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Dropped  Stitches 


-IN- 


TENNESSEE    HISTORY. 


BY 

JOHN    ALLISON. 


1897: 

MARSHAI^L  &  BRUCE  CO., 

NA.SHVILLE. 


Entered  according  lo  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1897, 

Bt  John  Allison, 

in  the  ofBce  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


DEDICATION. 


To  THB  Memory  of  Mr  Motheb, 

WHO,  WHEN  I  WAS  BUT  A.  YOUTH, 

FIRST  INTERESTED  ME  IN  AND  TA.UGHT  MK  MUCH 

OF  TH2 

Eablt  History 

OJ"  THB 

PIONEERS  OF  MY  NATIVE  STATE. 


PREFACE. 


This  little  volume,  ai  will  appear  to  the  reader,  is  not  a  history  of  anything  nor 
of  anybody,  and  is  not  so  intended.  The  whole  is  simply  an  effort  to  put  together  in 
readable  form  some  facts  in  the  very  earliest  history  of  Tennessee  not  hitherto  fully 
shown,  if  even  mentioned. 

I  was  born  and  brouKht  up  at  Jonesboro,  in  Washington  county,  Tennessee,  and 
resided  there  until  1889. 

My  mother,  when  I  was  a  mere  boy,  first  interested  me  in  and  taught  me  much 
about  the  pioneers  and  early  history  of  my  native  state.  Following  up  much  learned 
from  her,  I  frequently  visited  old  gentlemen  and  aged  ladies  in  Eastern  Tennessee 
and  a  few  in  North  ('arolina,  and  conversed  with  them  about  "  old  times  "  and  their 
early  lives,  and  from  them  obtained  much  information  not  to  be  gotten  in  any  other 
way.  By  a  formal  order  of  the  County  Court  of  Washington  county,  made  many 
years  ago,  I  was  given  custody  and  possession  of  the  very  earliest  court  records 
made  at  Jonesboro  (records  from  1778  up  to  1800,  as  I  now  remember),  and  had  pos- 
session of  them  for  two  or  three  years,  and  at  odd  times  went  through  and  copied 
much  from  these  old  records.  I  had,  however,  become  interested  in,  and  read  much, 
from  these  court  records  before  the  order  of  the  court  giving  me  ptossession  of  them. 

1  made,  as  best  I  could,  original  investigation  as  to  facts  plainly  suggested  by  the 
proceedings  of  the  courts,  as  to  the  men  who  constituted  the  court,  their  lives, 
character,  etc.,  and  also  as  to  the  events  surrounding,  or  involved  in,  the  entries  as 
indicated  by  the  substance  of  the  "  motions,"  "orders,"  etc. 

Where  authorities  consulted  and  information  obtained  in  my  original  investiga- 
tion have  conflicted  as  to  a  date,  I  have  given  that  which  seemed  most  probably  the 
correct  one;  where  no  date  at  all  could  be  found  or  fixed,  I  have  followed  the  "il- 
lustrious example  of  distinguished  historians,"  and  said,  "about  this  time" — with- 
out giving  any  date  at  all. 

By  permission  of  my  long,  long  time  scholarly  friend,  Dr.  R.  L.  C.  White,  the 
author,  I  publish  with  the  volume  "A  Centennial  Dream"  with  the  Key  thereto. 
The  "  dream  "  and  interpretation  are  put  in  an  appendix,  for  the  reason  that  I  can 
not  copyright  either. 

Dr.  White's  "  Centennial  Dream  "  has  suggested,  in  fewer  words,  more  Tennessee 
history  than  any  publication  heretofore  made,  and,  as  hundreds  of  persons  can 
testify,  has  excited  more  interest,  and  caused  more  thorough  investigation,  in  Early 
History  of  Tennessee,  than  any  book  or  paper  hitherto  written  on  the  subject. 
It  will  live  as  an  attractive,  proficient  instructor  and  teacher  of  the  history  of  the 
"Volunteer  State"  after  he  has  "crossed  over  the  river"  and  is  at  "rest  under  the 
■hade  of  the  trees." 

All  who  read  the  dream  and  key  to  it  will  appreciate  the  obligation  I  am  under 
to  Dr.  White. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  Andrew  Jackson,  Attobnky  at  Law 1 

II.  The  Pickets  of  CrvrnzATioN 15 

III.  A  Unique  Court 88 

IV.  A  Tragic  Episode 60 

V.  Early  Tbnnbssbr  Legislation 69 

VI.  MiBO,  ALIAS  "  Mero  " 86 

VII.  Andbbw  Jackson  as  a  "Sport" 100 

VIII.  Jackson's  Duel  with  Avery 110 

IX.  Andrew  Jackson,  Deputy  SHERiyp  and  Fireman 119 

X.  Andrew  Jackson,  the  Man 125 

"A  Centennial  Dream" 138 

Interpretation  op  the  "Dream" 143 

Indbx 151 


DROPPED  STITCHES 


Tennessee  History. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ANDREW  JACKSON,  ATTORNEY  AT  LAW. 

MOST  English-reading  people,  as  well  as  ma,ny  of  those  who 
read  history  written  in  other  languages,  are  familiar  with 
the  life  and  deeds  of  General  and  President  Andrew 
Jackson;  and  very  many  people  in  the  United  States  know 
of  Senator  and  Judge  Andrew  Jackson.  Few,  however,  are 
acquainted  with  young  Andrew  Jackson,  Esq.,  attorney  at 
law,  of  Jonesboro,  then  (1788-9)  the  county-seat  of  Washing- 
ton county,  North  Carolina,  They  are  all  one  and  the  same 
personage;  and  it  can  truthfully  be  said  that  there  is  a  still 
smaller  number  who  know  anything  whatever  about  the  lead- 
ing and  dominating  characteristics  of  the  people  among  whom 
young  Andrew  Jackson  really  began  life,  at  Jonesboro,  in  what 
is  now  Washington  county,  Tennessee. 

Most  of  Jackson's  biographers,  and  nearly  all  of  those  who 
have  written  and  spoken  about  him,  make  him  begin  his  busi- 
ness and  professional  life  at  Nashville,  in  the  fall  of  the  year 
1788.  John  Reid,  in  his  ' '  Life  of  Andrew  Jackson  "  (published 
in  1817),  says  that  Jackson,  on  reaching  the  settlement  on  the 
Holston  river,  near  Jonesboro,  remained  there  until  October, 
1788,  when  he  left  and  went  to  Nashville,  arriving  at  the  latter 


2  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

place  during  the  same  month.  Jenkins,  in  his  *  *  Life  of  Gen- 
eral Jackson"  (published  in  1850),  says  that  Jackson  reached 
Nashville  in  October,  1788.  Parton,  in  his  "Life  of  Jackson" 
(published  in  1860),  says:  "  Upon  the  settlement  of  the  diflScul- 
ties  between  North  Carolina  and  her  western  counties  (1788), 
John  McNairy,  a  friend  of  Jackson's,  was  appointed  judge  of 
the  Superior  Court  for  the  Western  District,  and  Jackson  was 
invested  with  the  office  of  solicitor  or  prosecutor  for  the  same 

district Thomas  Searcy,    another   of   Jackson's 

friends,  received  the  appointment  of  clerk  of  the  court. 
Before  the  end  of  October,  1788,  the  long  train  of  immigrants, 
among  whom  was  Mr.  Solicitor  Jackson,  reached  Nashville,  to 
the  great  joy  of  the  settlers  there. " 

The  distinguished  historians  are  all  in  error  in  all  of  these 
statements.  There  was  no  Superior  Court  at  Nashville  at  this 
date.  The  act  of  the  general  assembly  of  North  Carolina,  pro- 
viding for  or  establishing  a  Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity 
for  the  counties  of  Davidson,  Sumner  and  Tennessee,  was  not 
passed  until  November,  1788.  The  act  passed  at  Fayetteville, 
in  that  month,  ' '  erected  the  counties  of  Davidson,  Sumner  and 
Tennessee  into  a  district  for  the  holding  of  Superior  Courts  of 
Law  and  Equity  therein,  by  the  name  of  Mero. "  The  first 
volume  of  the  original  record  of  the  minutes  of  the  Superior 
Court  of  Law  and  Equity  for  the  district  of  Washington — then 
the  "Western  District" — at  Jonesboro,  shows  that  David 
Campbell  alone  held  that  court  from  the  February  term,  1 788 
(which  was  the  £rst  term),  until  the  February  term,  1789,  at 
which  latter  term  the  record  shows  that  Judge  McNairy  appeared 
and  sat  with  Judge  Campbell.  The  same  volume  shows  that, 
at  the  February  term,  1788,  and  on  the  first  day  of  the  term, 
Francis  Alexander  Ramsey  was  appointed  and  qualified  as  clerk 
of  the  court,  and  that  '  'Archibald  Roan  was  appointed  Attorney 


Andrew  Jackson,  Attorney  at  Law,  3 

to  prosecute  on  behalf  of  the  State,"  on  the  first  day  of  the 
term,  but  that  he  resigned  on  the  following  day;  "whereupon, 
William  Sharp,  Esq.  is  appointed  in  his  room."  Sharp  con- 
tinued to  act  as  prosecuting  attorney  until  February,  1790, 
when,  as  the  record  shows,  he  was  succeeded  by  William 
Cocke.       The   same  volume  has  this  entry:    "August  Term 

1788.  John  McNairy  Esq.  produced  a  License  to  practice  as 
an  Attorney  in  the  several  Courts  within  this  State  with  a  cer- 
tificate from  the  Clerk  of  the  Court  for  the  District  of  Salis- 
bury that  he  has  taken  the  oaths  necessary  for  his  qualification 
as  an  attorney  whereupon  he  is  admitted  to  Practice  in  this 
Court." 

The  Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity  for  the  Mero  District 
was  not  formally  organized  and  opened  until  late  in  the  year 

1789,  when  John  McNairy  was  appointed  judge  of  that  court. 
Under  the  territorial  form  of  government  provided  by  Con- 
gress, in  May,  1790,  for  "the  territory  of  the  United  States  of 
America  south  of  the  river  Ohio,"  the  President  appointed 
three  attorneys  for  the  territory — one  for  Washington  District, 
one  for  Hamilton  District  and  one  for  the  "Mero  District." 
Andrew  Jackson  was  appointed  in  and  for  the  "District  of 
Mero,"  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  evidence  whatever 
that  he  held  any  ofl3ce  whatever  prior  to  this  appointment.  It 
is  doubtful  whether  he  ever  received  any  compensation  from 
the  government  of  the  United  States  for  the  services  rendered 
as  attorney  of  the  "Mero  District ; "  for,  at  the  first  session  of 
the  third  general  assembly  of  Tennessee,  an  act  was  passed, 
October  26,  1739,  the  second  section  of  which  is  as  follows: 
"  Be  it  enacted,  that  the  sum  of  four  hundred  dollars  shall  be 
and  the  same  is  hereby  appropriated  for  the  payment  of  the 
sum  due  Andrew  Jackson,  as  a  full  compensation  for  his  serv- 
ices as  Attorney  General  for  the  District  of  Mero  under  the 


4  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

territorial  government."  Andrew  Jackson  never  accepted 
payment  twice  for  the  same  service. 

Section  1  of  the  same  act  appropriates  two  hundred  dollars 
**to  Archibald  Roane,  as  full  compensation  for  services  as 
Attorney  General  for  the  District  of  Hamilton  under  the  terri- 
torial government. " 

Jackson  did  not  arrive  at  Nashville  until  the  fall  of  the  year 
1789  or  the  spring  of  1790 — most  probably  the  latter.  He 
♦'settled"  in  Jonesboro.  in  what  was  then  Washington  county, 
North  Carolina,  and  is  now  Washington  county,  Tennessee, 
in  the  early  part  of  the  spring  of  1788.  He  probably  came 
from  Morganton,  North  Carolina,  across  the  range  of  mount- 
ains to  Jonesboro,  las  early  in  the  spring  as  the  melting 
snow  and  ice  made  such  a  trip  over  the  Appalachians  possible. 
From  Morganton  to  Jonesboro,  by  the  trail  or  route  then 
travelled,  was  more  than  one  hundred  miles,  two-thirds  of 
which,  at  that  time,  was  without  a  single  human  habitation 
along  its  course.  As  emigration  from  east  of  the  mountains 
to  "the  new  world  west  of  the  Alleghanies"  was  considerable 
about  this  period,  it  is  quite  possible  that  Judge  McNairy  and 
others  came  at  the  same  time ;  but  who  thej^  all  were,  and  the 
exact  date  of  their  arrival  in  Jonesboro,  is  not  known. 

On  the  old  record  books  of  the  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of 
the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  kept  at  Jonesboro  will 
be  found  the  following  entry :  ' '  State  of  North  Carolina  Wash- 
ington County,  Monday  the  Twelfth  day  of  May  Anno  Domini 
One  Thousand  Seven  Hundred  and  Eighty  Eight.  Andrew 
Jackson  Esq.  came  into  Court  and  Produced*  a  license  as  an 
Attorney  With  A  Certificate  sufficiently  Attested  of  his  Taking 
the  Oaths  Necessary  to  said  office  and  Was  admitted  to  Practiss 
as  an  Attorney  in  this  County  Court. "  The  entry  immediately 
preceding  recites  that  "Archibald  Roane,  David  Allison,  and 


Andrew  Jackson,  Attorney  at  Law,  5 

Joseph  Hamilton  Esquires  Produced  sufficient  Licenses  to 
Practiss  as  Attorneys  and  were  admitted,"  etc. ;  and  the  entry 
immediately  following  recites  that  "John  McNairey  Produced 
a  license  as  an  Attorney,"  etc.,  and  "was  admitted  to  Practiss 
as  an  attorney,"  etc. 

Thus  this  old  record  shows  the  admission  to  the  bar,  on  the 
same  day,  in  the  one-story  log  court-house,  twenty-four  feet 
square,  at  Jonesboro,  of  five  young  men. 

Jackson's  promotion  from  one  office  to  another,  until  he 
reached  the  highest  and  most  exalted  office  on  earth,  the  Pres- 
idency of  the  United  States,  is  known  to  all ;  but  that  ' '  Twelfth 
day  of  May  Anno  Domini  One  Thousand  Seven  Hundred  and 
Eighty  Eight "  must  have  been  a  lucky  day,  or  there  must  have 
been  good  material  in  those  young  men — for  Andrew  Jackson 
was  not  the  only  one  of  them  who  attained  eminence.  Jack- 
son was  first  United  States  attorney  for  the  "  District  of  Mero," 
but  Roane  held  the  same  office  at  the  same  time  in  the  Hamil- 
ton District,  while  McNairy  presided  over  both  of  them  as 
federal  judge  for  '  *  the  territory  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica south  of  the  river  Ohio. "  Jackson  met  both  McNairy  and 
Roane  as  fellow  delegates  in  the  constitutional  convention  for 
Tennessee,  in  1796.  Jackson  was  afterward  a  judge  of  the 
Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity,  but  so  were  both  McNairy 
and  Roane — and  this,  too,  before  Jackson  reached  the  bench, 
they  having  been  elected  at  the  first  session  of  the  first  general 
assembly  of  Tennessee,  in  April,  1796,  before  the  state  had 
been  formally  admitted  into  the  Union  by  act  of  Congress. 
Their  decisions,  however,  were  never  called  into  question  on 
that  ground. 

In  1797,  McNairy  was  appointed  a  district  judge  of  the  Fed- 
eral Court  in  Tennessee,  which  position  he  held  continuously 
until  his  death  in  1831  or  1832,  leaving  his  reputation  as  a 


6  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

wisp  and  just  judge  and  an  upright  man  as  a  heritage  to  Ten- 
nesseans. 

Roane  resigned  his  judgeship  in  June,  1801,  and  was  elected 
Governor  of  Tennessee  in  the  following  August.  On  retiring 
from  the  office  of  Governor,  after  having  served  two  years,  he 
remained  in  private  life  until  1811,  when  he  was  appointed 
circuit  judge.  Thereafter — in  October,  1815 — he  was  again 
appointed  to  the  Superior  Court  bench,  where  he  remained 
until  April  or  May,  1818,  and  then  retired  from  public  service, 
honored  and  esteemed. 

David  Allison  was  commissioned  ' '  Master  of  the  Rolls  and 
Clerk  in  Equity  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity  "  for 
Washington  District  at  Jonesboro,  by  Judges  Samuel  Spencer 
and  David  Campbell,  in  August,  1788.  He  held  thisoflQce  for 
about  two  years,  resigning  in  1790,  when  he  went  to  the  settle- 
ment on  the  Cumberland — now  Nashville — and  engaged,  I  be- 
lieve, in  the  mercantile  business. 

Joseph  Hamilton  disappears  entirely  from  the  court  records 
and  proceedings  at  Jonesboro,  and  I  have  been  able  only  to  trace 
him  elsewhere,  as  Clerk  of  the  County  Court  of  Caswell  county, 
State  of  Franklin,  1785,  and  when  he  was  appointed  by  the 
territorial  Governor  and  Council  to  aid  in  running  and  marking 
the  lines  of  Knox  and  Jefferson  counties,  when  they  were  es- 
tablished in  1792,  and  where  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Trus- 
tees of  Greeneville  College  in  1794. 

It  was  while  Roane  was  Governor,  in  1802,  that  the  memor- 
able contest  between  John  Sevier  and  Andrew  Jackson,  for  the 
position  of  Major  General  of  militia  in  Tennessee,  occurred. 
It  was  no  empty  and  meaningless  honor  to  hold  this  position 
then  in  the  state — as  subsequent  events  demonstrated.  Under 
the  terms  of  the  constitution,  the  Major  General  was  elected  by 
the  field  officers  of  the  militia.     When  the  votes  which  had 


Andrew  Jackson,  Attorney  at  Law.  7 

been  cast  were  counted,  there  was  found  to  be  a  tie  betw-een 
Jackson  and  Sevier.  The  Governor,  by  virtue  of  his  oflSce, 
was  commander-in-chief  of  the  militia.  He  was  therefore  a 
field  officer,  and  as  such  was  entitled  to  cast,  and  did  cast,  the 
deciding  Vote  between  these  two  great  commanders.  Governor 
Roane  gave  his  vote  for  Jackson,  and  Jackson  thus  became 
Major  General  of  militia  in  Tennessee,  which  led  him  up  to  the 
victory  he  gained  over  the  British  at  New  Orleans,  and  this 
victory  eventually  made  him  President  of  the  United  States. 
If  Roane  had  voted  for  Sevier? — I  am  a  Presbyterian. 

Roane  was  a  candidate  for  re-election  to  the  office  of  Gov- 
ernor, in  August,  1803.  John  Sevier  was  a  candidate  against 
him,  and  defeated  him,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Roane 
had  the  earnest  and  active  support  of  Jackson.  Jackson  and 
Roane  combined  could  not  beat  Sevier  before  the  people, 
although  the  latter  had  been  three  times  Governor  theretofore. 
Roane,  as  before  stated,  remained  in  private  life  until  1811. 
Sevier  was  twice  elected  Governor  after  having  defeated  Roane, 
and  remained  in  public  service  almost  continuously  until  his 
death  in  September,  1815.  To  give  in  detail  the  various 
offices  with  which  John  Sevier  was  honored,  every  one  of 
which  he  honored  in  turn,  would  be  foreign  to  the  subject.  He 
filled  every  office  known  to  the  statutes — and  some  which  were 
unknown — except  two:  he  was  never  a  Senator  in  Congress 
nor  a  judge  of  any  of  the  Superior  Courts.  (He  was  not  a 
lawyer.)  Nothing  that  could  be  said  on  the  subject  would  add 
to  this  evidence  of  the  confidence  the  people  had  in  him,  and 
of  their  faith  in  and  affection  for  the  man. 

Jackson  had  attained  to  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  on  the 
15th  of  March  preceding  the  entry  above  quoted,  admitting 
him  to  the  bar  in  Washington  county.  He  may  have  been 
formally  admitted  at  Salisbury  or  Morganton,  North  Carolina, 


8  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

but  he  did  not  in  fact  open  an  office  or  enter  upon  the  practice 
of  law  at  either  place.  The  order  admitting  him  to  the  bar  at 
Jonesboro,  therefore,  may  be  accepted  and  regarded  as  the 
opening  entry  in  the  business  life  and  the  professional  and 
political  career  of  this,  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  Americans. 

These  old  court  records  at  Jonesboro  disclose  the  fact  that 
Jackson  was  in  the  town  and  in  attendance  on  the  Court  of 
Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions,  at  its  November  term,  1788.  Un- 
der the  law  at  that  time,  bills  of  sale  of  slaves  and  horses  and 
deeds  to  land  had  to  be  proven  in  the  court  mentioned.  A 
bill  of  sale  was  presented  to  this  court  by  Jackson,  at  its 
November  term,  1788.  This  bill  of  sale  is  given  below,  for 
reasons  hereafter  to  be  stated.  It  is  as  follows:  '<A  Bill  of 
Sale  from  Micajah  Crews  to  Andrew  Jackson,  Esquire  for  A 
Negroe  Woman  named  Nancy  about  eighteen  or  twenty  years 
of  Age  was  Proven  in  Open  Court  by  the  Oath  of  David  Alli- 
son a  Subscribing  Witness  and  Ordered  to  be  Recorded." 

The  court  records  for  the  years  1788  and  1789,  kept  in 
Washington,  Sullivan,  Greene  and  Hawkins  counties,  establish 
the  fact  that  Jackson  was  practising  law  in  those  counties 
during  the  two  years  mentioned.  He  could  not,  in  the  very 
nature  of  things,  have  attended  court  in  those  counties,  if  he 
had  been  residing  at  Nashville  or  practising  law  in  Davidson, 
Sumner  and  Tennessee  counties,  which  at  that  time  constituted 
the  "  District  of  Mero." 

It  has  been  stated  without  qualification  by  some  writers  that 
Jackson  was  present  in  Morganton,  North  Carolina,  when  Gov- 
ernor John  Sevier  escaped  from  the  authorities  there  and  returned 
to  "the  western  waters."  Parton  says  that  "Jackson  may  have 
witnessed  the  celebrated  rescue  of  Governor  Sevier,  as,  about 
the  time  of  its  occurrence  in  1788,  he  was  at  Morganton,  on  a 
visit  to  Colonel  Waightstill  Avery,  on  his  way  to  the  western 


Andrew  Jackson,  Attorney  at  Law.  9 

wilds  of  Tennessee. "  Sevier,  for  having  organized  and  been 
elected  Governor  of  the  "  lost  state  of  Franklin,"  was  arrested 
near  Jonesboro,  in  October,  1788,  and  taken  to  Morganton; 
but  there  was  no  such  "celebrated  rescue"  or  escape  of  Sevier 
as  that  pictured  in  the  various  accounts  of  this  affair  which 
have  been  given.  Sevier,  on  reaching  Morganton,  was  met  by 
Generals  Charles  McDowell  and  Joseph  McDowell,  who  became 
his  bondsmen  until  he  could  make  a  visit  to  a  brother-in-law 
who  resided  some  miles  from  the  town.  Sevier  made  this  visit, 
returning  to  Morganton  on  the  second  day  after  leaving,  and 
reported  to  the  sheriff  of  Burke  county,  who  permitted  him  to 
go  where  he  pleased  without  requiring  bond.  In  the  meantime, 
Sevier's  two  sons,  James  and  John,  together  with  Major  Evans, 
Mr.  Crosby  and  probably  others  from  "the  western  waters," 
had  arrived  in  Morganton;  and,  in  consequence  of  what  was 
then  told  to  Sevier  by  his  sons  and  friends  (which  need  not  be 
stated  here),  he  left  Morganton,  quietly  and  openly,  in  broad 
day,  and  returned  with  them  immediately  to  "Washington 
county.  All  of  these  occurrences  took  place  during  the  month 
of  October,  1788;  and  Jackson  could  not  have  been,  during 
this  month,  in  Morganton,  in  Jonesboro  and  in  Nashville.  He 
was,  as  before  stated,  at  Jonesboro,  familiarizing  himself  with 
the  country  and  getting  acquainted  with  the  people  in  the  coun- 
ties mentioned.  ' 

It  has  been  written  of  Jackson  that  he  came  into  the  *  *  new 
settlements"  on  foot,  or  that  he  walked  from  Morganton  to 
Jonesboro.  This  is  incorrect.  More  than  twenty-five  years 
ago,  the  writer  made  it  his  business  to  investigate  the  truth  of 
that  statement,  and  also  other  incidents  and  facts  in  reference 
to  the  early  life  of  Jackson  while  he  made  his  home  at  Jones- 
boro. There  were  then  living  in  Washington  and  the  surround- 
ing counties  several  aged  native-born  citizens  who  had  known 


10  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

Jackson  personally,  and  who  had  heard  much  concerning  him. 
These  old  gentlemen,  who  ranged  in  age  around  eighty-ftve 
years,  delighted  to  talk  of  what  they  knew  and  had  heard  of 
Jackson  when  he  came  to  Jonesboro,  and  while  he  lived  there 
during  the  years  1788  and  1789.  All  that  has  been  or  will  be 
stated  herein  is  from  notes  of  conversations  had  with  them,  and 
either  taken  literally  from  or  based  on  the  old  court  records  at 
Jonesboro.  From  these  sources  of  information  it  can  be 
asserted  as  truth  that  Jackson  arrived  in  Jonesboro  riding  one 
horse  and  leading  another;  that  the  horse  he  was  riding  was  a 
"race  horse;"  that  he  had  a  pair  of  "holsters"  (pistols) 
buckled  across  the  front  of  his  saddle;  and  that  on  the  led 
horse  was  a  shot  gun,  a  "  pack"  and  a  well-filled  pair  of  sad- 
dle-bags, while  following  after  him  and  by  his  side  was  a  goodly 
pack  of  foxhounds.  This  is  an  inventory  of  his  personal  be- 
longings, as  given  me  by  at  least  three  of  these  old  gentlemen,  * 
each  of  whom  had  known  Jackson  personally,  and  had  heard  the 
story  of  his  arrival  in  the  community  repeated  often  by  fathers, 
mothers  and  others.  It  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  he  had 
some  money  also,  or  he  could  not,  within  a  few  months  after 
his  arrival,  have  purchased  the  slave  shown,  by  the  bill  of  sale 
set  out  above,  to  have  been  bought  by  him.  The  price  of  such 
a  slave  as  that  described  was  at  that  time  about  three  hundred 
dollars.  When  one  of  the  old  gentlemen  referred  to  was  told 
by  me  that  it  had  been  said  and  "published  "  that  Jackson  had 
come  to  Jonesboro  "afoot,"  he  fired  up  and  his  eyes  fairly 
sparkled  as  he  exclaimed:  "Good  God!  Jackson  never  walked 
anywhere  from  necessity.  He  came  here  riding  a  race-horse 
and  leading  another  first-rate  horse. " 

Jackson  made  his  home,  while  he  remained  in  the  eastern 

*  Major  Bird  Bronm,  Abram  Taylor  and  John  Allison. 


Andrew  Jackson,  Attorney  at  Law.  11 

part  of  what  is  now  Tennessee,  at  the  house  of  Christopher  Tay- 
lor (father  of  Abram  Taylor,  before  mentioned),  about  one 
mile  west  of  Jouesboro,  on  the  road  that  led  from  the  town  to 
the  "Brown  settlement"  on  the  Nolichucky  river.  The  old 
house  is  still  standing,  and  can  be  seen  from  the  passing  trains 
on  the  Southern  railway.  A  view  of  it,  as  it  appeared  some 
years  ago,  is  given. 

Christopher  Taylor  was  a  slaveholder  and  a  large  landowner, 
and  had  some  race-horses  which  were  fairly  good  for  the  times, 
together  with  a  pack  of  the  "finest  and  fastest  hounds"  in  the 
country.  While  every  one  knew  that  Jackson  was  a  devotee  of 
the  race-course,  a  lover  of  the  chase  and  not  averse  to  a  cock- 
fight, still  he  was  admired  and  esteemed  by  all,  from  the  time 
he  came  into  the  country. 

It  is  not  probable  that  he  had  a  law-office  in  Jonesboro,  the 
tradition  being  that  he  received  and  consulted  with  his  clients 
at  Christopher  Taylor's,  when  court  was  not  in  session.  When 
he.  was  consulted  by  a  client,  his  first  eflfort  was  to  compromise 
or  adjust  the  diflference,  if  possible;  failing  in  this,  he  was 
most  stubborn  and  unrelenting  on  behalf  of  his  client,  never, 
however,  resorting  to  anything  not  in  keeping  with  the  strictest 
rules  of  propriety  and  fairness,  and  always  courteous,  manly 
and  open  in  his  bearing  toward  court,  jury  and  opposing  coun- 
sel, and  exacting  from  every  one  the  most  respectful  and  cour- 
teous treatment,  whether  in  court,  at  the  race-course  or  else- 
where. He  never  insinuated  anything — he  spoke  it  out  plainly. 
He  despised  deceit  and  treachery,  and  he  held  in  the  highest 
esteem  the  bold,  open  lojalty  of  a  man  to  a  friend  or  a  convic- 
tion. He  loathed  any  man  who  was  guilty  of  a  little  mean,  or 
mean  little,  act.  He  had  a  profound  contempt  for  the  narrow- 
minded  and  penurious  or  niggardly  man.  He  himself  was  not 
extravagant,  but  his  heart  and  hand  seemed  to  open  sponta- 


12  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

neously  to  a  deserving  object  of  charity.  Strange  to  say,  while 
he  did  not  know  what  fear  was,  he  was  often  heard  to  express 
great  sympathy  for  cowards  or  the  timid,  and  he  would  never 
allow  such  an  one  to  be  imposed  on  in  his  presence. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  recite  evidence  or  narrate  circumstances 
to  show  that  such  a  man  as  Jackson  had  the  most  exalted  opin- 
ion of  woman,  and  that  he  was  always  her  champion  and  de- 
fender; but  an  incident  which  occurred  at  Rogersville,  in  Haw- 
kins county,  will  be  related  here.  A  most  estimable  widow 
kept  the  "tavern"  at  Rogersville.  Her  house  was  generally 
full  during  court  week.  One  day,  a  stranger  came  into  the 
public  or  reception  room,  shortly  before  supper,  and  asked  for 
entertainment  or  a  room.  The  landlady  in  person  showed  him 
a  room,  with  two  or  three  beds  in  it,  and  told  him  that  he 
could,  if  he  wished,  occupy  that  room  with  two  other  gentle- 
men, having  a  bed  to  himself,  explaining  that,  on  account  of 
it  being  court  week,  her  house  was  so  crowded  that  she  could 
not  give  him  a  separate  room.  The  stranger  was  not  pleased 
with  this  arrangement,  and  so  told  the  landlady.  As  they  re- 
turned to  the  public  room,  the  stranger,  just  as  they  entered  it, 
made  some  insolent  remark  about  a  country  and  a  town  which 
could  not  afford  a  gentleman  a  separate  room.  Jackson,  who 
was  sitting  in  the  room,  heard  the  remark.  Springing  to  his 
feet,  he  seized  the  stranger  by  the  arm,  exclaiming,  < '  Come 
with  me,  sir — I'll  find  a  separate  room  and  bed  for  you! "  The 
stranger,  observing  Jackson's  tone  and  manner,  hesitated,  and 
asked  him  what  he  meant.  The  only  answer  he  received  was, 
"Come  on,  sir!"  and  he  reluctantly  went  with  Jackson,  who 
was  still  holding  him  by  the  arm.  Jackson  took  his  captive 
out  the  ' '  back  way, "  and  brought  him  up  in  front  of  a  corn- 
crib,  in  which  were  some  corn  and  shucks.  Opening  the  door 
of  the  crib,  he  commanded  the  stranger  to  "climb  in,"  at  the 


Andrew  Jackson,  Attornex  at  Law.  13 

same  time  displaying  in  his  right  hand  an  argument  that  so 
overcame  all  desire  of  resistance  that  prompt  obedience  was 
the  immediate  result.  The  stranger  "climbed  in,"  apologizing 
and  begging  at  the  same  time,  and  Jackson  closed  the  door 
upon  him.  After  looking  at  his  prisoner  for  some  minutes 
with  great  satisfaction,  Jackson  asked  him  if  he  was  willing  to 
go  back  to  the  house,  apologize  to  the  landlady,  and  accept  the 
room  which  she  had  offered  him.  The  stranger  readily  ex- 
pressed his  willingness  to  do  this,  which  he  did,  and  so  the  in- 
cident closed. 

In  going  from  Jonesboro  to  the  courts  in  Greene,  Hawkins 
and  Sullivan  counties,  Jackson  always  took  with  him  his  shot- 
gun, holsters  and  saddlebags,  and  very  often  his  hounds,  so 
that  he  was  always  ready  to  join  in  a  deer  chase  or  a  fox  hunt. 
He  was  an  unerring  marksman,  and  was  always  the  centre  of 
attraction  at  the  "  shooting  matches,"  at  which  the  prizes  were 
quarters  of  beef,  turkeys  and  deer.  He  would  dismount  any- 
where on  these  trips,  in  order  to  participate  in  such  a  contest; 
and  messengers  were  frequently  sent  from  remote  parts  of  the 
settlements,  inviting  him  to  come  out  and  ioin  in  a  hunt  or  a 
"shooting  match."     He  invariably  accepted  such  invitations. 

In  those  early  daj's,  when  a  new  settler  came  into  the  com- 
munity, or  a  young  man  married,  as  soon  as  the  place  for  the 
"clearing"  and  the  erection  of  a  cabin  was  fixed  upon,  the 
neighbors  "gathered  in,"  and  they  had  what  was  called  a 
"house  raising"  and  a  " barn  raising. "  They  felled  the  trees, 
hewed  the  logs  and  built  the  house  and  barn — all  in  one  day, 
or  in  two  days  at  most.  It  was  said  that  Jackson  attended 
more  of  these  house  and  barn  "raisings"  than  any  other  one 
man  in  the  country.  They  usually  wound  up  with  a  fox  hunt, 
a  deer  chase  or  a  shooting  match.  He  was  said  to  have  been 
"a  horseman  without  an  equal,  the  boldest  and  most  fearless 


14  Dropped  Stuches  in  Tennessee  History. 

riderGthat  had  ever  crossed  the  Alleghanies. "  He  would  ford 
or  swim  his  horse  through  a  river  wherever  he  came  to  it,  if  he 
wished  to  get  to  the  opposite  side.  His  aggressiveness  and 
restlessness  were  often  the  subject  of  remark,  and  led  to  the 
opinion,  which  was  freely  expressed,  that  if  ever  there  was  a 
war,  he  would  be  a  great  general. 

He  began  life  among  people  who  had  views  and  opinions  of 
their  own  on  all  questions  of  the  day  and  subjects  of  public  in- 
terest ;  yet  his  judgment  was  consulted  and  his  views  sought  on 
almost  all  public  affairs,  notwithstanding  his  youth.  He  was 
recognized  from  the  first  as  a  man  who  ' '  would  fight  at  the  drop 
of  a  hat,  and  drop  the  hat  himself " ;  but  in  all  the  personal 
diflflculties  which  he  had  while  he  resided  in  Washington  county, 
save  OMe — a  duel  with  Col.  Avery,  an  account  of  which  will  be 
given  in  another  chapter — public  opinion  was  generally  largely 
in  his  favor. 

It  may,  and  it  should,  be  interesting  to  those  who  love  and 
revere  the  memory  of  Andrew  Jackson  to  know  something  of 
the  life,  habits  and  characteristics  of  the  people  among  whom 
he  first  settled  at  Jonesboro,  as  well  as  of  those  with  whom  he 
afterwards  made  his  pei'manent  home  at  Nashville;  for  what- 
ever can  be  said  to  the  credit  and  glory  of  either  the  early  set- 
tlers on  the  Watauga  or  those  upon  the  Cumberland  can  be 
truthfully  said  of  the  others.  Therefore,  a  brief  account  of  the 
dominating  characteristics  of  the  people  among  whom  he  first 
settled  will  be  given.  This  will,  it  is  believed,  throw  some  light 
on  the  formation  of  Jackson's  character,  methods  and  course 
throughout  his  life. 


CHAPTER  II. 

TUE  PICKETS  OF  CIVILIZATION. 

THE  first  settlei's  in  Tennessee:  what  did  they  do? 
They  founded  and  administered  the  first  free  and  inde- 
pendent government  in  America.     They  established  the 
first  church,  the  first  institution  of  learning,   and  the  second 
newspaper,  in  "the  new  world  west  of  the  Alleghanies. " 

They  were  in  the  wilderness.  The  hour  of  the  day  was  de- 
termined by  the  shadow  cast  by  the  sun  upon  the  home-made 
dial ;  the  time  of  the  night  was  reckoned  from  the  positions  of 
particular  stars  in  the  firmament.  Years  and  months  they 
measured  by  moons.  From  the  course,  color  and  velocity  of 
clouds,  from  the  temperature  and  from  the  direction  of  the 
winds,  they  foretold  the  weather.  They  also  observed  the  habits 
of  animals  and  birds  of  passage,  as  aids  to  their  weather  bureau ; 
and  they  watched  and  studied  closely  the  development  and 
growth  of  plants,  herbs,  vines,  vegetables  and  the  cereals,  as 
helps  to  their  agricultural  department.  * 

The  country  in  which  Andrew  Jackson  made  his  home  for 
about  two  years  deserves  a  name  and  place  in  history  not  yet 
fully  given  to  it.  In  its  wild  and  picturesque  magnificence,  in 
the  rugged  honesty  and  frank  simplicity  of  the  people  who  set- 
tled it,  in  their  love  and  struggle  for  liberty,  "  home  rule  "  and 
local  self-government,  it  was  a  counterpart  of  the  Switzerland 
of  tradition  and  story. 

The  sun  shone  nowhere  upon  a  land  of  more  ravishing  love- 
liness and  awe-inspiring  sublimity — silver  threads  of  river  and 

*  The  almanac-groundhog  and  goose-bone  theories  were  adopted  by  a  later  and 
wiser  generation. 


16  Deopped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

streamlet,  and  gem  of  valley  set  in  emerald  of  gorgeous  luxuri- 
ance; waters  murmuring  and  thunderous,  striking  every  note 
in  the  gamut  of  nature's  weird  minstrelsy,  dashing  and  bound- 
ing to  the  sea;  every  acclivity  a  Niagara  of  color  flashing  from 
rhododendron  and  mountain  magnolia,  elysian  fields  without 
Rhenish  castles  or  Soman  towers ;  grooved  with  fastnesses,  ter- 
raced with  plateaus  and  monumented  with  peaks  upheaved 
into  a  very  dreamland  of  beauty  and  grandeur,  all  overlooked 
by  the  majestic  Roan — 

"  The  monarch  of  mountains— 
They  crowned  him  long  ago. 
On  a  throne  of  rock,  in  a  robe  of  clouds. 
With  a  diadem  of  snow!  " 

About  one  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago,  the  first  permanent 
white  settlement  was  made  on  the  Watauga  river,  near  where 
Elizabeth  ton  now  stands.  Up  to  the  winter  of  1770-1,  there 
were  in  all  probability  twenty  families  in  the  new  settlement. 

May  16,  1771,  the  "Regulators"  fought  the  famous  but  dis- 
astrous battle  of  the  Alamance,  about  forty  miles  northwest  of 
Raleigh.  During  the  summer  and  fall  following  this  battle, 
settlers  came  in  considerable  numbers  to  ' '  the  new  world  west 
of  the  Alleghanies, "  and  cast  their  lot  with  the  settlers  on  the 
Watauga;  and  about  this  time  settlements  were  made  on  the 
Holston  and  Nolichucky  rivers. 

Who  were  these  people?  Whence  and  why  did  they  come? 
I  answer: 

They  were  every  one  patriots,  soldiers  and  good  citizens. 
They  came  from  the  battlefield  of  the  Alamance — that  first  con- 
test of  the  revolution  which  eventuated  in  American  independ- 
ence. They  left  their  homes  because  of  the  disastrous  result 
of  that  battle,  in  which  msmy  of  them  had  participated,  and  be- 
cause of  their  unconquerable  hatred  of  the  British  government 


The  Pickets  of  Civilization.  17 

and  their  open  revolt  against  British  authority  and  the  oppres- 
sion of  British  officials. 

The  following  letter  from  Hon.  George  Bancroft,  the  histo- 
rian, then  Minister  from  the  United  States  to  Great  Britain,  on 
the  subject  of  the  "Mecklenburg  Resolves,"  and  the  subsequent 
course  and  conduct  of  some  of  those  engaged  in  the  battle  of 
the  Alamance,  is  still  of  great  interest  to  Tennesseans: 

90  Eaton  Place,  Lokdon,  July  4,  1848. 

My  Dear  Sir — I  hold  it  of  good  augury  that  your  letter  of 
the  12th  of  June  reached  me  by  the  Herman  just  in  time  to  be 
answered  this  morning.  You  may  be  sure  that  I  have  spared  no 
pains  to  discover  the  Resolves  of  the  Committee  of  Mecklen- 
burg. A  glance  at  the  map  will  show  you  that  in  those  days 
the  traflSc  in  that  part  of  North  Carolina  took  a  southerly  direc- 
tion, and  people  in  Charleston,  and  sometimes  in  Savannah, 
knew  what  was  going  on  in  '  Charlotte  Town  '  before  Gov. 
Martin.  The  first  account  of  the  Resolves  extraordinary,  '  by 
the  people  in  Charlotte  Town,  Mecklenburg  County,'  was  sent 
over  by  Sir  James  Wright,  then  Governor  of  Georgia,  in  a  let- 
ter of  the  20th  of  June,  1775.  The  newspaper  thus  transmit- 
ted is  still  preserved,  and  is  the  number  498  of  the  South  Car- 
olina Gazette  and  Country  Journal,  Tuesday,  June  13,  1775. 
I  read  the  Resolves,  you  may  be  sure,  with  reverence,  and  im- 
mediately obtained  a  copy  of  them,  thinking  myself  the  sole 
discoverer.  I  do  not  send  you  the  copy,  as  it  is  identically  the 
same  with  the  paper  you  enclosed  to  me,  but  I  forward  to  you 
a  transcript  of  the  entire  letter  of  Sir  James  Wright.  The 
newspapers  seem  to  have  reached  him  after  he  had  finished  his 
dispatch,  for  the  paragraph  relating  to  it  is  added  in  his  own 
handwriting,  the  former  part  being  written  by  a  secretary.  I 
have  read  a  great  many  papers  relating  to  the  Regulators,  and 
am  having  copies  made  of  a  large  number.  Your  own  state 
ought  to  have  them  all,  and  the  expense  would  be,  for  the  state, 
insignificant,  if  it  does  not  send  an  agent  on  purpose.  A  few 
hundred  dollars  would  copy  all  you  need  from  the  State  Paper 
Ofl3ce  on  all  North  Carolina  topics.  The  Regulators  are  on 
many  accounts  important.  They  form  the  connecting  link  be- 
tween the  resistance  to  the  Stamp  Act  and  the  movement  of 
1775,  and  they  also  played  a  glorious  part  in  taking  possession 
of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  toward  which  they  were  irresistibly 
carried  by  their  love  of  independence.     It  is  a  mistake  if  any 


18  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  Histoey. 

have  supposed  that  the  Regulators  were  cowed  down  by  their 
defeat  at  Alamance.  Like  the  mammoth,  they  shook  the  bolt 
from  their  brow  and  crossed  the  mountains, 

I  shall  always  be  glad  to  hear  from  you  and  to  be  of  use  to 
you  or  your  State.  Very  truly  yours, 

George  Bancroft. 

D.  L.  Swain,  Esq.,  Chapel  Hill,  N.  C. 

One  of  the  "ringleaders"  in  organizing  the  Regulators  for 
the  battle  of  the  Alamance  was  John  Pugh,  who  was  afterwards 
sheriff  of  Washington  county,  which  at  that  time  included  all 
of  the  territory  now  embraced  within  the  boundaries  of  the  state 
of  Tennessee.  Among  the  few  names  of  the  participants  in  the 
battle  of  the  Alamance  which  have  been  preserved  in  history 
may  be  found  those  of  several  who  were  afterwards  prominent 
among  the  settlers  on  Watauga,  Holston  and  Nolichucky.  I 
have  said  this  much  because  of  some  facts  which  will  be  given 
further  along. 

These  people  were  on  the  very  verge  of  the  frontier,  standing 
as  a  mere  handful  of  pickets  out  on  the  confines  of  civilization, 
where  the  war-whoop  of  the  painted  savage  rang  through  the 
forests,  and  the  constant  apprehension  of  the  tomahawk  and 
the  scalping-knife  haunted  every  abode,  and  every  thicket  am- 
bushed a  bloodthirsty  foe.  When  open  daring  failed,  fiendish 
cunning,  the  torch  and  midnight  butchery  wrought  the  ruin. 
Atrocity  followed  atrocity,  in  the  utter  extinction  of  homes. 
Men  hunted,  fished,  toiled,  slept  and  worshipped  with  their 
trusty  rifles  at  hand.  The  women  also,  through  necessity  and 
with  courage  inspired  by  constant  peril,  were  no  less  dextrous 
in  the  use  of  deadly  weapons,  and  no  less  unerring  in  the  pre- 
cision of  their  aim.  The  very  genius  of  evil  and  desolation 
seemed  at  times  to  brood  over  the  infant  settlements.  Still, 
they  prospered;  and,  amid  their  dangers,  they  followed  indus- 
trial pursuits.     The  creaking  clang  of  the  loom  and  the  whir 


V  ^^  VK.V  '«^''v^:':  ■   -•■ '  ■■ 


The  Pickets  op  Civilization.  19 

of  the  spinning-wheel  furnished  the  "accompaniment  to  the 
maiden's  concord  of  measured  monotones."  The  woodman's 
axe  felled  the  forest  trees,  and  fields  and  farms  were  opened 
up,  fenced  and  put  in  cultivation.  Churches  and  schools  were 
established,  and  public  highways  "viewed  out"  and  opened  up 
in  the  wilderness. 

Among  the  wealthiest  the  wheaten  cake  appeared  only  at  the 
Sabbath  breakfast.  Milk  and  spring  water  were  their  only 
drinks  at  meals.  The  red  deer  flitted  through  the  voiceless 
solitudes,  and  bruin  roamed  the  jungles  at  will.  The  fruits  of 
the  chase  and  the  fishing-rod,  together  with  pounded  maize, 
supplied  the  wholesome  comforts  of  the  hospitable  board. 
Quilting  bees,  log  rollings,  house  raisings,  corn  shuckings,  flax 
pullings,  maple  sugar  boilings  and  the  innocent  abandon  of  the 
dance,  enlivened  with  brimming  gourds  of  nectared  dew  and 
the  high  fun  and  mirth  of  backwoods  < '  social  functions, "  gave 
variety  and  zest  to  the  monotony  of  frontier  life. 

Maid  and  matron  were  clad  in  fabrics  of  their  own  handi- 
work, each  a  Joan  of  Arc  in  moral  and  physical  prowess  and 
power,  and  a  Venus  in  rounded  symmetry  and  development,  with 
all  the  unaffected  gi'aces  of  natural  and  unspoiled  womanhood, 
*  *  the  red  wine  of  lusty  life  mantling  and  blushing  in  the  ala- 
baster face  " ;  the  men  garbed  in  skins  or  the  coarsest  textures  of 
the  loom,  athletic  of  limb  and  fleet  of  foot  as  the  roe,  more  than 
a  match  for  all  the  cunning  stratagems  of  Indian  warfare,  ' '  lion- 
hearted  to  dare  and  win,  and  yet  with  gentleness  and  generosity 
to  melt  the  soul. " 

The  log  structure  rose  in  the  wilderness,  with  puncheon  floor, 
slab  benches,  port-hole  windows  and  rifle-rack,  in  whose  cribbed 
and  darkened  shrine  alternated  the  thunderous  vociferations  of 
the  fire-and-brimstone  preacher  and  the  cries  of  the  truant  urchin 
under  the  savage  birch  of  the  pitiless  schoolmaster. 


20  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

These  people  were  without  any  local  form  of  civil  government, 
without  executive,  military,  civil  or  peace  officers ;  but  they  had 
among  them  John  Sevier,  Isaac  Shelby,  James  Robertson  and 
others,  who  kept  the  good  of  the  community  at  heart.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  there  has  been  much  controversy,  at  times 
in  the  not  very  distant  past,  as  to  when,  where  and  by  whom 
the  first  declaration  of  a  free  and  independent  government  was 
made  and  entered  into  on  this  continent — some  claiming  that 
Mecklenburg,  North  Carolina,  was  the  place,  its  citizens  the 
people,  and  May,  1775,  the  date;  others  asserting  that  the  as- 
sociation formed  for  Kentucky,  "under  the  great  elm  tree  out- 
side the  fort  at  Boonsboro  " — this  also  in  1775 — was  the  first. 
I  propose  to  show  that  neither  one  of  these  associations,  decla- 
rations or  formations  of  government  was  the  first  ' '  free  and  in- 
dependent government"  established  on  this  continent;  but  that 
this  honor  belongs  to  the  settlers  on  the  Watauga.  Haywood, 
in  his  history  of  Tennessee  (page  41),  says:  "In  1772  (May), 
the  settlement  on  the  Watauga,  being  without  government, 
formed  a  written  association  and  articles  for  their  conduct. 
They  appointed  five  commissioners,  a  majority  of  whom  was  to 
decide  all  matters  of  controversy,  and  to  govern  and  direct  for 
the  common  good  in  other  respects";  and  again  (page  46): 
* '  This  committee  settled  all  private  controversies,  and  had  a 
clerk,  Felix  Walker,  now  or  lately  a  member  of  Congress  from 
North  Carolina.  They  had  also  a  sheriff.  This  committee  had 
stated  and  regular  times  for  holding  their  sessions,  and  took 
the  laws  of  Virginia  for  the  standard  of  decision. "  Haywood 
further  says  that  they  were  living  under  this  government  in 
November,  1775. 

Some  four  years  after  this  local,  self,  independent  govern- 
ment had  been  entered  into  by  the  settlers  of  Watauga,  John 
Sevier,  in  a  memorial  to  the  North  Carolina  legislature  explain- 


The  Pickets  op  Civilization.  21 

ing  it,  says:  "Finding  ourselves  on  the  frontiers,  and  being 
apprehensive  that,  for  want  of  a  proper  legislature,  we  might 
become  a  shelter  for  such  as  endeavor  to  defraud  their  credit- 
ors; considering  also  the  necessity  of  recording  deeds,  wills, 
and  doing  other  public  business,  we,  by  consent  of  the  people, 
formed  a  court  for  the  purposes  above  mentioned,  taking,  by 
desire  of  our  constituents,  the  Virginia  laws  for  our  guide,  so 
near  as  the  situation  of  affairs  would  permit.  This  was  intended 
for  ourselves,  and  was  done  by  consent  of  every  individual, " 

I  rather  suspect  that  some  inquiry  was  made  by  the  authori- 
ties of  North  Carolina,  as  to  what  kind  of  a  government  this  was 
which  had  been  set  up  within  their  jurisdiction,  and  which  es- 
tablished courts  that  took  the  laws  of  Virginia  as  their  guide. 

The  "written  association  and  articles  for  their  conduct,"  en- 
tered into  by  the  settlers  on  the  Watauga,  in  May,  1772,  formed 
the  first  "free  and  independent  government  "  established  and 
put  into  practical  administration  on  this  continent. 

The  five  commissioners  or  committeemen  first  appointed  were 
John  Sevier,  James  Robertson,  Charles  Roberson,  Zachariah 
Isbell  and  John  Carter.  This  was  an  independent  government, 
because  they  did  not  ask  permission  of  anj'  power  on  earth  to 
enter  into  it,  and  they  did  not  recognize  any  authority  as  supe- 
rior to  that  which  they  had  voluntarily  vested  in  the  five  com- 
missioners chosen  by  them.  It  was  not  a  compact  or  league 
with  any  other  power,  but,  as  Sevier  says,  ' '  was  intended  for 
ourselves."  It  was  a  free  government,  because  it  was  volun- 
tarily entered  into  by  the  whole  people,  *  *  by  consent  of  every 
individual. " 

The  settlers  lived,  prospered  and  were  happy,  under  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  five  commissioners,  for  about  six  years.  These 
commissioners  settled  all  questions  of  debt,  determined  all  rights 
of  property,  took  the  probate  of  wills  and  the  acknowledgment 


22  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

of  deeds,  recorded  the  same,  issued  marriage  licenses  and  hanged 
horse  thieves,  with  much  zest  and  great  expedition — the  ar- 
raignment, trial,  conviction,  condemnation  and  execution  of  a 
horse  thief  all  occurring  within  an  hour  or  so  after  he  was  ar- 
rested, inasmuch  as  they  had  no  jail  in  which  to  imprison  him 
overnight,  and  believed  strongly  in  the  idea  that  a  man  who  was 
bad  enough  to  be  put  in  jail  deserved  to  be  hanged  on  the  spot. 
In  November,  1777,  the  assembly  of  North  Carolina  erected  the 
District  of  Washington  into  Washington  county,  which  included 
the  whole  of  what  is  now  the  state  of  Tennessee.  This  was  the 
first  territorial  division  in  the  United  States  named  in  honor  of 
George  Washington.  The  Governor  of  North  Carolina  appointed 
justices  of  the  peace  and  militia  officers  for  this  county,  who, 
in  February,  1778,  met  and  took  the  oath  of  office,  and  organ- 
ized the  new  county  and  its  courts.  Thereupon,  the  first  < '  free 
and  independent  government"  formed  and  put  into  operation 
in  America  was  no  more,  the  jurisdiction  and  authority  of  the 
five  commissioners  having,  by  their  own  consent  and  that  of  the 
people,  been  superseded  by  the  newly  appointed  authorities. 
The  first  written  instrument,  paper  or  record  authoritatively 
made  in  the  organization  of  what  is  today  the  judicial,  politi- 
cal, civil  and  military  existence  of  the  state  of  Tennessee,  is 
in  the  office  of  the  county  clerk  at  Jonesboro,  and  is  in  the 
words  and  figures  following: 

FEBRUARY  COURT  1778 

The  oaths  of  the  Justices  of  the  peace  melitia  &  for  officers 
There  Attestments,  &c, 

Washington  County,  I  A.  B.  do  solemnly  swear  that  as  a 
Justice  of  the  peace,  and  a  Justice  of  the  County  Court  of 
pleas,  &  Quarter  Sessions  in  the  County  of  Washington,  in  all 
articles  in  the  Commission  to  me  directed.  I  will  do  equal 
Right  to  the  poor  and  to  the  Rich  to  the  Best  of  my  Judgment 
and  according  to  the  Law  of  the  State.  I  will  not  privately  or 
Openly  by  my-self  or  any  other  person,  be  of  Council  in  any 


The  Pickets  of  Civilization.  23 

Quarrel,  or  Suit,  depending  Before  me,  and  I  will  hold  the 
County  Court,  and  Quarter  Sessions  of  my  County,  as  the 
Statue  in  that  case  shall  and  may  direct. 

The  fines  and  amerciaments  that  shall  happen  to  be  maid 
and  the  forfeitures  that  shall  be  incurred  I  will  cause  to  be 
duly  entered  without  Concealment.  I  will  not  wittingly  or 
willingly  take  by  myself  or  any  Other  Person,  for  me,  any  fee, 
Gift,  Gratuity,  or  reward  whatsoever  for  any  matter  or  thing 
by  me  to  be  done,  By  virtue  of  my  office  except  such  fees  as 
are  or  may  be  directed  or  Limited  by  statue,  but  well  and  truly 
I  will  do  my  office,  of  a  Justice  of  the  peace  as  well  within  the 
County  Court  of  pleas,  and  Quarter  Sessions  as  without.  I 
will  not  delay  person  of  common  Right,  By  reason  of  any  Let- 
ter, or  order  from  any  person  or  persons  in  authority  to  me 
directed,  or  per  any  other  Cause  whatever,  and  if  any  Letter 
or  Order  Come  to  me,  contrary  to  Law  I  will  proceed  to  In- 
force  the  Law,  such  letter  or  Order  notwithstanding.  I  will 
not  direct  or  cause  to  be  directed  any  warrent  by  me  to  be 
maid  to  the  parties.  But  will  direct  all  such  Warrants  to  the 
Sheriff  or  Constable  of,  the  County  or  Other  the  Officers,  Of 
the  State  or  Other  Indiferant  person  to  do  execution  Thereof, 
and  finally,  in  all  things  belonging  to  my  office,  during  Con- 
tinuation therein  will  faithfully,  Truly  and  Justly  according  to 
the  best  of  my  (Jud)  skill  and  Judgment  do  equal  and  Impar- 
tial Justice  to  the  Public  and  to  Individuals,  So  help  me  God. 
Jas,  Robertson,  Valentine  Sevier,  John  Carter,  John  Sevier, 
Jacob  Womack,  Robert  Lucas,  Andr,  Greer,  John  Shelby  Jr, 
George  Russill,  William  Been,  Zacr.  Isbell,  Jno  McNabb,  Tho, 
Houghton,  William  Clark,  Jno  McMaihen,  Benjamin  Gist, 
J.  Chisholm,  Joseph  Wilson,  William  Cobb,  James  Stuart, 
Michl,  Woods,  Richd.  White,  Benjamin  Wilson,  Charles  Rob- 
erson,  William  McNabb,  Thos  Price,  Jesse  Walton. 

This  oath  has  a  deep  and  significant  meaning,  in  view  of  the 
practices  which  had  characterized  the  administration  of  justice 
by  British  officials.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  this  oath,  so  full 
and  specific  in  detail,  did  not  bind  those  who  took  it  to  allegiance 
either  to  the  state  or  the  colony  of  North  Carolina,  or  to  the 
United  States  of  America.  It  did  bind  them,  however,  to  be 
honest,  just  and  faithful  to  the  people;  it  did  bind  them  to  "do 
equal  right  to  the  poor  and  to  the  rich";  it  did  bind  them  not 
to  make  suggestions  or  give  counsel  in  any  quarrel  or  suit  pend- 


24  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

ing  before  them,  not  to  delay  any  person  in  obtaining  justice, 
not  to  allow  outside  influence  to  dictate  or  control  their  actions, 
not  to  accept  any  fee,  gift,  gratuity  or  reward  whatsoever  for 
any  matter  or  thing  by  them  to  be  done,  except  the  compensa- 
tion allowed  by  law ;  to  keep  an  account  of  fines  and  to  enter 
them  without  concealment;  and,  fi.nally,  to  "do  equal  and  im- 
partial justice  to  the  public  and  to  individuals."  This  oath  was 
not  merely  administered  to  them  in  the  modern,  perfunctory 
way,  as  "You  do  solemnly  swear,"  etc.  They  took  it,  repeated 
it  after  the  officer,  and  signed  it. 

The  new  order  of  things  was  an  innovation  on  the  former 
simple,  direct  and  expeditious  way  of  administering  justice;  but 
the  five  "committeemen"  were  also  members  of  the  new  court, 
and  methods  were  not  very  materially  changed,  as  the  records 
of  the  clerk's  office  at  Jonesboro  will  show.  They  took  juris- 
diction of  all  matters  relating  to  the  public  good,  and  disposed 
of  all  questions  summarily,  as  will  be  more  fully  and  particu- 
larly shown  in  another  chapter. 

Whenever  a  stranger  appeared  in  the  settlements,  and  gave 
his  name  as  William  Morningstar,  Samuel  Sunshine  or  Walter 
Rainbow,  he  would  not  be  there  long  before  he  would  be  waited 
upon  by  a  committee,  one  of  whom  would  say  to  him :  ' '  Look 
here,  stranger,  we  have  examined  the  book  of  Genesis  from  end 
to  end  since  you  came  here,  and  we  can't  find  the  name  of  your 
ancestors.  We  think  that  you  have  got  another  name,  and  that 
you  stole  a  horse  somewhere  and  have  run  off.  You  must  leave 
this  settlement  before  night,  or  we'll  hang  you!"  Such  frank 
treatment  was  invariably  effective :  its  object  was  sure  to  heed 
the  warning  and  to  disappear  before  sunrise  the  next  morning. 

About  this  time  a  vigorous  and  ambitious  young  man  left 
the  city  of  Philadelphia  for  the  wilds  of  the  southwest.  His 
mind  was  stored  with  the  rich   intellectual  treasures  of  old 


.  ■■-'fH. 

.    ,v-<.-    ..    Ill,  ■V^l' 

- ->"  -'-i  -     ■'  -  "'i^rv  I       Si  i^*^  / 


S5 
SI 

O   o 


^;^'W^- 


P  a 

as 

00  !5 
Eb    O 

s « 


The  Pickets  of  Civilization.  25 

Princeton,  then  under  the  presidency  of  the  father  of  Aaron 
Burr.  He  walked,  driving  before  him  through  Delaware  and 
Maryland,  over  the  Alleghanies  and  across  Virginia,  his  ' '  flea- 
bitten  grey,"  burdened  to  the  utmost  capacity  with  a  huge  sack 
of  books.  These  classics  were  the  nucleus  of  the  library  of  an 
institution  of  learning  yet  unborn.  After  a  fatiguing  journey 
through  a  large  portion  of  territory,  with  only  obscure  paths 
through  gloomy  forests  for  a  highway,  this  devout  and  daunt- 
less adventurer  halted  among  the  settlers  whom  I  have  been 
describing.  Soon  thereafter,  the  first  church — a  Presbyterian 
— and  the  first  institution  of  learning  that  were  established 
west  of  the  Alleghanies  were  founded.  These  were  "Salem 
Church"  and  "Washington  College, "  both  established  in  the 
year  1780,  eight  miles  southwest  of  the  seat  of  the  present 
town  of  Jonesboro — the  college  being  the  first  one  in  the  United 
States  that  honored  itself  by  assuming  the  name  of  the  Father 
of  his  Country.  It  is  stated  as  a  fact  that,  long  prior  to  the 
late  war,  twenty-two  members  of  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  had  received  or  completed  their  education  at  Washing- 
ton College,  under  this  pioneer  in  letters  and  religious  training, 
whose  achievements  constitute  the  jewels  of  our  early  literary 
and  moral  history.  This  man  was  Rev.  Samuel  Doak,  D.  D. 
Though  he  left  a  deep  and  indelible  impress  on  the  civilization 
and  the  literature  of  the  Southwest,  he  sleeps  today,  amid  the 
scenes  of  his  successful  earthly  labors,  with  only  a  simple  and 
fast  crumbling  memorial  to  mark  the  hallowed  sepulchre  of  his 
silent  dust. 

The  settlers  lived  and  their  public  affairs  were  conducted  un- 
der the  jurisdiction  of  the  County  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter 
Sessions  for  a  period  of  about  six  years,  in  a  quiet  and  orderly 
manner;  but  ever  since  that  May  day  of  1772  when  they  organ- 
ized the  first  ' '  free  and  independent  government, "  their  dream 


26  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

had  been  of  a  new,  separate  and  independent  commonwealth, 
and  they  began  to  be  restless,  dissatisfied  and  disaffected  toward 
the  government  of  North  Carolina.  Many  causes  seemed  to 
conspire  to  increase  their  discontent.  The  first  constitution  of 
North  Carolina  had  made  pro^sion  for  a  future  state  within 
her  limits,  on  the  western  side  of  the  Alleghany  mountains. 
The  mother  state  had  persistently  refused,  on  the  plea  of  pov- 
erty, to  establish  a  Superior  Court  and  appoint  an  attorney 
general  or  prosecuting  oflScer  for  the  inhabitants  west  of  the 
mountains.  In  1784,  many  claims  for  compensation  for  mili- 
tary services,  supplies,  etc.,  in  the  campaigns  against  the 
Indians,  were  presented  to  the  state  government  from  the  settle- 
ments west  of  the  Alleghanies.  North  Carolina  was  impover- 
ished ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  these  claims  'were 
just,  reasonable  and  honest,  it  was  suggested,  and  perhaps  be- 
lieved, ' '  that  all  pretences  were  laid  hold  of  (by  the  settlers) 
to  fabricate  demands  against  the  government,  and  that  the  in- 
dustry and  property  of  those  who  resided  on  the  east  side  of 
the  mountains  were  becoming  the  funds  appropriated  to  dis- 
charge the  debts  contracted  by  those  on  the  west."  Thus  it 
came  about  that,  in  May,  1784,  North  Carolina,  in  order  to 
relieve  herself  of  this  burden,  ceded  to  the  United  States  her 
territory  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  provided  that  Congress  would 
accept  it  within  two  years.  At  a  subsequent  session,  an  act 
was  passed  retaining  jurisdiction  and  sovereignty  over  the  ter- 
ritory until  it  should  have  been  accepted  by  Congress.  Im- 
mediately after  passing  the  act  of  cession,  North  Carolina  closed 
the  land  oflSce  in  the  ceded  territory,  and  nullified  all  entries  of 
land  made  after  May  25,  1784. 

The  passage  of  the  cession  act  stopped  the  delivery  of  a 
quantity  of  goods  which  North  Carolina  was  under  promise  to 
deliver  to  the  Cherokee  Indians,  as  compensation  for  their 


The  Pickets  op  Civilization.  27 

claim  to  certain  lands.  The  failure  to  deliver  these  goods  nat- 
urally exasperated  the  Cherokees,  and  caused  them  to  commit 
depredations,  from  which  the  western  settlers  were  of  course 
the  sufferers. 

At  this  session,  the  North  Carolina  assembly,  at  Hillsboro, 
laid  taxes,  or  assessed  taxes  and  empowered  Congress  to  col- 
lect them,  and  vested  in  Congress  power  to  levy  a  duty  on  for- 
eign merchandise. 

The  general  opinion  among  the  settlers  west  of  the  Allegha- 
nies  was  that  the  territory  would  not  be  accepted  by  Congress 
(and  in  this  they  were  correct) ;  and  that,  for  a  period  of  two 
years,  the  people  in  that  territory,  being  under  the  protection 
neither  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  nor  of  the  state 
of  North  Carolina,  would  neither  receive  any  support  from 
abroad  nor  be  able  to  command  their  own  resoiu'ces  at  home — 
for  the  North  Carolina  act  had  subjected  them  to  the  payment 
of  taxes  to  the  United  States  government.  At  the  same  time, 
there  was  no  relaxation  of  Indian  hostilities.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances, the  great  body  of  the  people  west  of  the  Allegha- 
nies  concluded  that  there  was  but  one  thing  left  for  them  to  do, 
and  that  was  to  adopt  a  constitution  and  organize  a  state  and  a 
state  government  of  their  own.  This  they  proceeded  to  do. 
Was  there  anything  else  which  these  people  could  have  done? 
Perhaps  there  was;  but  did  they  not  adopt  just  such  a  course 
as  any  people  situated  as  they  were  would  have  taken? 

Thej'  proceeded  to  take  steps  for  the  holding  of  a  conven- 
tion. Delegates  were  elected  from  Washington,  Sullivan  and 
Greene  counties,  who  met  in  convention  at  Jonesboro,  August 
23,  1784.  Messrs.  Cocke,  Outlaw,  Carter,  Campbell,  Manifee, 
Martin,  Roberson,  Houston^  Christian,  Kennedy  and  Wilson 
were  appointed  a  committee,  ' '  to  take  under  consideration  the 
state  of  public  affairs  relative  to  the  cession  of  the  western 


28  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

country. "  This  committee  appointed  Messrs.  Cocke  and  Har- 
din a  sub-committee  to  draft  a  report,  which  they  did.  This 
report  was  in  the  nature  of  an  address  to  the  people.  The  con- 
vention then  adjourned,  to  meet  again  in  Jonesboro,  Septem- 
ber 16.  It  did  not,  however,  assemble  on  that  date.  In  Octo- 
ber, 1784,  the  North  Carolina  assembly  repealed  the  act  of 
cession.  In  the  following  November,  the  delegates  again 
assembled  at  Jonesboro,  but  failed  to  adopt  a  constitution,  and 
broke  up  in  confusion,  because  of  the  repeal  of  the  act  of  ces- 
sion. John  Sevier,  having  received  ofl3cial  information  that 
the  cession  act  had  been  repealed,  courts  established,  an  attor- 
ney general  appointed  and  military  officers  commissioned,  made 
a  speech  advising  the  people  to  go  no  further;  but  Cocke  and 
a  majority  of  the  people  were  unwilling  to  abandon  their  dream 
of  a  new  state — and  Sevier  went  with  his  people. 

December  14,  1784,  another  convention  assembled  at  Jones- 
boro, and  adopted  a  constitution,  which  was  to  be  ratified  or 
rejected  by  a  convention  called  to  meet  at  Greeneville,  Novem- 
ber 14,  1785.  In  the  meantime,  a  general  assembly  was 
elected,  which  met  at  Greeneville,  early  in  1785,  and  chose 
John  Sevier  for  Governor,  David  Campbell  judge  of  the  Su- 
perior Court,  and  Joshua  Gist  and  John  Anderson  assistant 
judges.  Landon  Carter  was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  Senate,  and 
William  Cage  Speaker  of  the  House.  The  same  assembly,  at 
the  same  session,  afterward  elected  Landon  Carter  Secretary  of 
State  and  William  Cage  State  Treasurer.  Joseph  Hardin  was 
then  elected  Speaker  of  the  House,  but  I  have  not  been  able 
to  ascertain  from  any  source  who  was  elected  Speaker  of  the 
Senate  m  place  of  Carter.  Stoakley  Donaldson  was  made  Sur- 
veyor General,  and  Daniel  Kennedy  and  William  Cocke  were 
appointed  Brigadiers  General.  The  assembly  elected  all  other 
oflBcers,  civil  and  military,  being  careful  to  choose  those  who 


The  Pickets  of  Civilization.  29 

already  held  offices  under  the  government  of  North  Carolina — 
and  so  the  ill-starred  "state  of  Franklin"  began  its  career. 
The  new  state  was  named  in  honor  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  as 
the  correspondence  of  Sevier  conclusively  shows,  and  the  name 
should  therefore  always  be  written  "Franklin,"  and  not 
' '  Frankland. " 

The  boundaries  of  the  new  state,  as  set  forth  in  a  paper  in 
the  handwriting  of  Col.  Arthur  Campbell  of  Virginia,  were  as 
follows :  ' '  Beginning  at  a  point  on  the  top  of  the  Alleghany 
or  Appalachian  mountains,  so  as  a  line  drawn  due  north  from 
thence  will  touch  the  bank  of  the  New  river,  otherwise  called 
Kenhawa.  at  the  confluence  of  Little  river,  which  is  about  one 
mile  above  Ingle's  ferry;  down  the  said  river  Kenhawa  to  the 
mouth  of  Bencovert  or  Greenbriar  river;  a  direct  line  from 
thence  to  the  nearest  summit  of  the  Laurel  mountain,  and 
along  the  highest  part  of  the  same  to  the  point  where  it  is  in- 
tersected by  the  parallel  of  thirty-seven  degrees  north  latitude; 
west  along  that  latitude  to  a  point  where  it  is  met  by  a  merid- 
ian line  that  passes  through  the  lower  part  of  the  rapids  of 
Ohio;  soutJi  along  the  meridian  to  Elk  river,  a  branch  of  the 
Tennessee;  down  said  river  to  its  mouth,  and  down  the  Ten- 
nessee to  the  most  southwardly  part  or  bend  in  said  river;  a 
direct  line  from  thence  to  that  branch  of  the  Mobile  called  Don- 
bigbee  [Tombigbee]  ;  down  said  river  Donbigbee  to  its  junction 
with  the  Coosawatee  river  to  the  mouth  of  that  branch  of  it 
called  the  Higtower  [Etowah] ;  thence  south  to  the  top  of  the 
Appalachian  mountains,  or  the  highest  land  that  divides  the 
sources  of  the  eastern  from  the  western  waters;  northwardly 
along  the  middle  of  said  heights  and  the  top  of  the  Appa- 
lachian mountains,  to  the  beginning." 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  whether  or  not  these  people  in- 
tended their  new  state  to  become  part  of  the  Union,  as  one  of 


30  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  Histoey. 

the  provisions  in  their  proposed  form  of  government  was  that 
' '  the  inhabitants  within  these  limits  agree  with  each  other  to 
form  themselves  into  a  free,  sovereign  and  independent  body 
politic  or  state,  by  the  name  of  the  commonwealth  of  Frank- 
lin." I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  in  the  beginning  they 
did  not  intend  to  join  the  Union  of  states,  but  that  later  they 
concluded  that  they  would,  as  there  wa*»<  an  effort  made  to  have 
Congress  recognize  the  new  state. 

An  examination  of  the  boundary  lines  of  the  state  of  Frank- 
lin will  show  that  it  included  fifteen  counties  of  Virginia,  six 
of  West  Virginia,  one-third  of  Kentucky,  one-half  of  Tennessee, 
two-thirds  of  Alabama  and  more  than  one-fourth  of  Georgia. 
Cast  your  eye  over  this  magnificent  area :  see  the  blue  mountains, 
the  sun-browned  cliffs,  the  beautiful  rivers,  the  broad  valleys 
with  their  golden  wheat-fields  and  verdant  meadows,  with  the 
hundreds  of  smaller  streams  and  sparkling  springs:  it  seems 
like  one  grand  piece  of  natural  embroidery,  fashioned  and  put 
together  by  the  fingers  of  infinity  and  spread  out  by  the  hand 
of  the  Almighty.  Think  of  the  iron,  coal,  marble,  lead,  cop- 
per, zinc  and  other  minerals  hidden  within  its  soil — ^you  might 
have  put  a  Chinese  wall  around  the  people  of  the  "state  of 
Franklin, "  and  still  they  could  have  lived  in  absolute  independ- 
ence of  the  outside  world.  There  is  more  iron  and  coal  in  this 
territory  than  can  be  found  in  the  same  area  elsewhere  in  the 
United  States,  and  it  is  today  yielding  a  vast  revenue  to  its  in- 
habitants. You  can  stand  on  some  of  its  mountain-tops,  and 
see  the  heavens  darkened  by  day  with  the  pillar  of  cloud,  and 
made  luminous  by  night  with  the  pillar  of  fire,  arising  from 
furnace  and  forge  in  the  valleys  below,  and  hear  the  hammer 
of  Thor  beating  the  iron  ribs  of  those  majestic  old  mountains 
into  the  marvellous  machines  of  modern  invention  and  the  util- 
ities of  a  grand  civilization. 


The  Pickets  of  Civilization.  31 

At  the  first  session  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  state  of 
Franklin,  held  in  March,  1785,  fifteen  acts  or  laws  were  passed. 
In  the  act  levying  a  tax  for  the  support  of  the  government  was 
the  following  section: 

Be  it  enacted,  That  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  afore- 
said land  tax,  and  the  free  polls,  to  be  paid  in  the  following 
manner:  Good  flax  linen,  ten  hundred,  at  three  shillings  and 
six  pence  per  yard,  Nine  hundred  at  three  shillings :  Eight  hun- 
dred two  shillings  and  nine  pence :  Seven  hundred  two  shillings 
and  six  pence :  Six  hundred  two  shillings :  tow  linen  one  shilling 
and  nine  pence:  linsey  three  shillings:  and  woolen  and  cotton 
linsey  three  shillings  and  six  pence  per  yard:  Good  clean  beaver 
skin  six  shillings:  cased  Otter  skins  six  shillings:  uncased  ditto 
five  shillings:  rackoon  and  fox  skins  one  shilling  and  three 
pence:  woolen  cloth  at  ten  shillings  per  yard:  bacon  well  cured 
at  six  pence  per  pound:  good  clean  beeswax  one  shilling  per 
pound:  good  clean  talow  six  pence  per  pound:  good  distilled 
rye  whiskey  at  two  shillings  and  six  pence  per  gallon:  good 
peach  or  apple  brandy  at  three  shillings  per  gallon :  good  country 
made  sugar  at  one  shilling  per  pound:  deer  skins,  the  pattern 
six  shillings:  good  neat  and  well  managed  tobacco  fit  to  be 
prized  that  may  pass  inspection  the  hundred,  fifteen  shillings, 
and  so  on  in  proportion  for  a  greater  or  less  quantity. 

The  last  section  of  the  act  is  in  these  words :  '  'And  all  the 
salaries  and  allowances  hereby  made  shall  be  paid  by  any  treas- 
urer, sheriff  or  collector  of  public  taxes  to  any  person  entitled 
to  the  same,  to  be  paid  in  specific  articles  as  collected,  and  at 
the  rates  allowed  by  the  state  for  the  same,  or  in  current  money 
of  the  state  of  Franklin."  This  provision  furnished  those  who 
adhered  to  the  North  Carolina  government  much  amusement. 
They  asserted  that  the  salaries  of  the  Governor,  judges  and 
other  officers  were  to  be  paid  in  skins,  absolutely ;  and,  to  add 
to  their  amusement,  had  them  payable  in  mink  skins  at  that. 
From  this  provision  the  inhabitants  of  that  section  of  the  coun- 
try fell  into  the  habit  of  referring  to  money  as  "mink  skins;" 
and  this  term,  as  descriptive  of  money,  thus  spread  all  over 
the  southwestern  country. 


32  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

They  estimated  by  law  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  to  be  equal 
to  fifteen  shillings  of  the  current  money  of  Franklin.  They 
allowed  the  Governor  two  hundred  pounds  annually ;  the  Attor- 
ney General  twenty-five  pounds  for  each  court  he  attended; 
the  Secretary  of  State  twenty-five  pounds  and  fees;  the  judge 
of  the  Superior  Court  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds ;  the  assist- 
ant judges  twenty-five  pounds  for  each  court  they  attended; 
the  treasurer  forty  pound;  and  each  member  of  the  council  six 
shillings  per  day  for  each  day  of  actual  service. 

A  convention  met  in  Greeneville,  in  November,  1785,  to 
adopt  a  constitution.  Up  to  this  time  no  disagreement  had 
taken  place — all  were  for  Franklin;  but  when  the  constitution 
which  had  been  proposed  was  submitted,  it  was  rejected;  and, 
on  motion  of  Col.  William  Cocke,  the  convention  adopted  the 
entire  constitution  of  North  Carolina.  Thus  began  the  trouble 
which  ended  in  the  overthrow  of  the  state  of  Franklin. 

I  can  not  now  notice  the  various  sessions  held  by  the  assem- 
bly of  Franklin.  It  met  for  the  last  time  in  Greeneville,  in 
September,  1787,  ' '  During  the  years  1786  and  1787,  a  strange 
spectacle  was  presented — that  of  two  empires  being  exercised 
at  one  and  the  same  time,  over  one  and  the  same  territory  and 
people. "  County  courts  were  held  in  the  same  counties,  under 
the  Franklin  and  the  North  Carolina  governments;  "the  same 
militia  was  called  out  by  oflflcers  appointed  by  each  government; 
laws  were  passed  by  both  assemblies  " ;  taxes  were  laid  by  author- 
ity of  both  states — but  the  people  said  that  they  did  not  know 
which  government  had  the  right  to  receive  their  taxes,  and 
therefore  they  adopted  the  easy  solution  of  paying  to  neither. 
The  Superior  Courts  of  Franklin  were  held  at  Jonesboro;  the 
courts  under  North  Carolina  were  held  at  Davis's  on  Buffalo 
creek,  ten  miles  east  of  Jonesboro,  and  at  Col.  Tipton's.  There 
were  now  two  strong  parties,  one  under  Tipton,  adhering  to 


HOUSE  USED  AS  CAPITOL  OF  THE  STATE  OF  FRANKLIN, 
In  Greeneville,  TennessL-c.         From  a  photograph  taken  in  April,  1897. 


The  Pickets  op  Civilization.  33 

North  Carolina,  and  the  friends  of  Franklin  following  Sevier, 
each  of  whom  endeavored  by  every  possible  means  to  strengthen 
his  cause.  ' '  Every  provocation  on  the  one  side  was  surpassed 
in  the  way  of  retaliation  by  a  still  greater  provocation  on  the 
other.  .  .  .  The  clerks  of  the  county  courts  of  Washington, 
Greene  and  Sullivan,  under  Franklin,  issued  marriage  licenses, 
and  many  persons  were  married  by  virtue  of  their  authority. " 

In  1786,  while  a  court  was  in  session  at  Jonesboro,  under 
the  Franklin  government,  Col.  John  Tipton  entered  the  court 
house  with  a  party  of  men,  took  the  records  away  from  the 
clerk  and  drove  the  justices  out  of  the  house.  Not  long  after 
this,  Sevier  entered  the  house  where  the  North  Carolina  court 
was  sitting,  turned  the  justices  out  bodily  and  carried  off  the 
records.  "The  like  acts  were  repeated  several  times  during 
the  existence  of  the  Franklin  government."  James  Sevier  was 
clerk  of  Washington  county  under  the  Franklin  government,  as 
he  had  been  under  North  Carolina.  Tipton  went  to  Sevier's 
house  and  took  the  old  records  away  from  him  by  force. 
Shortly  afterward,  the  same  records  were  recaptured,  and 
James  Sevier  hid  them  in  a  cave.  During  these  captures  and 
removals  many  of  the  records  were  lost.  Of  the  Franklin  rec- 
ords all  save  one  were  either  lost  or  destroyed. 

This  single  remaining  record  of  the  Franklin  courts  is  not 
only  interesting  but  amusing;  and,  to  be  as  drunk  as  it  un- 
questionably is,  contains  some  law  and  a  great  deal  of  early 
history.  This  record  was  evidently  made  late  at  night,  by  the 
light  of  a  "  tallow  dip "  or  a  bear-oil  lamp,  with  a  bottle  of 
well-distilled  apple  or  peach  brandy  near  by.  It  is  the  only 
written  record  relative  to  the  ' '  lost  state  "  and  its  courts  that  I 
have  ever  been  able  to  find.  It  is  like  an  old-time  copy-book. 
On  the  outside  are  the  following  entries  and  memoranda — I 

give  them  literally: 
3 


34  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

State  of  Franklin, — Washington  County 
J  James  Sevier,  State  of  Franklin  James  Sevier  clerk  of 
Washington  County  State  of  Franklin 
Franklin 
Franklin 
Franklin 

Inside,  in  the  same  handwriting,  will  be  found  the  following : 

Good  deeds  are  very  commendable  in  youth, 

Good  many  men  of  good  many  minds 

Good  birds  of  Good  many  kinds 

State  of  Court  Adg'd,  till  court  In  course 

from  a  general  insurrection  of  the  times,  to  this  date  7  th,  of 
May  1786, 

On  the  next  page  the  record  continues. as  follows: 

Something  ambiguous  will  say  he  went  to  the  Indians,  no 
witnesses,  no  opportunity,  they  are  not  able  to  proove  any- 
thing. The  meaning  is  to  be  taken,  the  latter  in  contracts, 
deeds  and  wills,  construed  differantly  was  there  a  ejectment, 
and  he  never  tryed,  nothing  can  be  done  until  Injunction  issue 
from  the  judge.  The  law  says  no  party  shall  be  tryed  without 
witnesses  Hobgobblins,  and  Ghosts.     So  many  tryals 

.  Read  and  interpret  this  record  in  the  flickering  light  of  the 
history  of  the  times.  The  court  had  been  broken  up  and  the 
justices  driven  out  of  the  house — this,  I  suppose,  is  the  ' '  eject- 
ment "  referred  to.  John  Sevier  was  at  this  time  on  the  frontier, 
fighting  the  Indians — hence,  he  "went  to  the  Indians."  There 
was  at  this  time  in  the  hands  of  the  North  Carolina  sheriff  a 
bench  warrant  for  the  arrest  of  Sevier;  if  he  was  arrested,  the 
charges  against  him  could  not  be  proven  without  witnesses; 
these  would  be  hard  to  procure  against  John  Sevier,  and  yet  no 
one  could  be  fairly  ' '  tryed  without  witnesses. "  So  this  clerk, 
alone  at  midnight,  with  no  company  except  the  flask  whose 
odor  seems  still  perceptible  in  the  pages  of  his  record,  reasoned 
and  wrote — until  the  "Hobgobblins  and  Ghosts"  got  after  him! 
In  January  or  February  of  1788,  John  Sevier's  property  was 
seized  under  a  fieri  facias  issued  by  North  Carolina.     Sevier 


The  Pickets  of  Civilization.  35 

and  Tipton,  with  their  respective  followers,  met  and  fought  a 
slight  battle  two  miles  south  of  the  present  site  of  Johnson  City, 
in  which  the  former  was  repulsed.  In  the  following  October, 
Sevier  was  arrested  and  carried  to  North  Carolina  for  trial. 
Soon  afterward,  the  government  of  Franklin  collapsed,  and 
North  Carolina  passed  an  act  of  "pardon  and  oblivion,"  and 
reassumed  her  government  of  these  people. 

The  state  of  Franklin,  in  1787-8,  was  composed  of  the  three 
original  counties  of  Washington,  Sullivan  and  Greene,  together 
with  four  new  counties — Sevier,  which  covered  the  same  terri- 
ritory  it  now  covers  and  a  part  of  what  is  now  Blount;  Caswell, 
which  occupied  the  same  section  of  country  now  included  in 
Jefferson;  Spencer,  which  covered  Hawkins;  and  Wayne,  cov- 
ering Johnson  and  Carter. 

As  late  as  February,  1789,  the  record  in  Jonesboro  shows 
the  following  entries: 

James  Allison  and  James  Sevier  came  into  open  court  and 
prayed  to  be  admitted  to  take  the  benefit  of  the  act  of  pardon 
and  oblivion  by  taking  the  oath  provided  by  law,  which  was 
deferred  till  tomorrow  for  want  of  the  acts  of  the  General  As- 
sembly. 

On  the  next  day  the  following  entry  was  made : 

James  Sevier,  James  Allison  and  Francis  Baker,  persons 
who  had  withdrawn  their  allegiance  [from  North  Carolina] 
came  into  open  court,  and  availed  themselves  of  the  act  of 
pardon  and  oblivion  by  taking  the  oaths  prescribed  by  law. 

At  the  February  term,  1788,  of  the  court,  the  following 
order  was  made  and  entered  of  record : 

Ordered  by  the  Court  that  Johnathan  Pugh  Esqr,  Sheriff  of 
Washington  County,  Take  into  custody  the  County  court  docket 
of  said  county,  supposed  to  be  in  the  possession  of  John  Sevier 
Esqr,  And  the  same  records  bring  from  him  or  any  other  per- 
son or  persons,  in  whose  possession  they  are  now,  or  hereafter 
shall  be,  and  the  same  return  to  the  Court  or  some  succeeding 
court  for  said  county. 


36  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

At  the  May  term,  1788,  this  order  was  made: 

Ordered  by  the  court  that  the  Sheriff  of  this  County  demand 
the  public  records  of  this  County  from  John  Sevier,  former 
clerk  of  the  court. 

The  records  referred  to  were  lost,  or  remained  in  the  cave 
where  they  were  hidden. 

All  opposition  to  North  Carolina  authority  was  now  virtually 
"withdrawn,  but  the  people  west  of  the  Alleghanies  worked 
quietly  for  a  separation  and  a  new  state. 

North  Carolina  passed  a  second  cession  act,  under  the  pro- 
visions of  which^  February  25,  1790,  Samuel  Johnston  and 
Benjamin  Hawkins,  Senators  in  Congress  from  North  Carolina, 
deeded  the  territory  to  the  United  States,  and  the  sovereignty 
of  North  Carolina  over  it  instantly  expired.  It  has  been  aptly 
said  that  ' '  the  separation  was  not  like  that  of  a  disconsolate 
mother  parting  from  a  beloved  daughter,  but  rather  like  that 
when  Abraham  said  to  Lot,  'Separate  thyself,  I  pray  thee, 
from  me.  If  thou  wilt  take  the  left  hand,  then  I  will  go  to 
the  right;  or  if  thou  depart  to  the  right  hand,  then  I  will  go 
to  the  left.'" 

President  Washington  appointed  William  Blount  Governor 
of  the  territory,  August  7,  1790.  On  the  10th  day  of  the  fol- 
lowing October,  Governor  Blount  organized  the  territorial  gov- 
ernment, at  the  house  of  Mr.  Cobb,  in  Sullivan  county,  on  the 
north  side  of  Watauga  river,  since  known  as  the  Massengale 
farm,  above  and  opposite  where  Austin  Springs  are.  The  pop- 
ulation of  the  territory  in  July,  1791,  was  36,043,  including 
3,417  slaves.  The  whole  population  of  the  Cumberland  settle- 
ment at  that  time  was  7,042. 

November  5,  1791,  the  second  printing  press  introduced  in 
the  <'New  World  west  of  the  Alleghanies  "  was  set  up,  at  Rog- 
ersville,  by  Mr.  George  Roulstone. 


Thb  Pickets  of  Civilization.  37 

The  people  who  made  it  possible  for  Tennessee  to  have  a 
centennial  were  a  wonderful  people.  Within  a  period  of  about 
fifteen  years,  they  were  engaged  in  three  revolutions;  partici- 
pated in  organizing  and  lived  under  five  different  governments ; 
established  and  administered  the  first  free  and  independent 
government  in  America;  founded  the  first  church  and  the  first 
college  in  the  southwest;  put  in  operation  the  second  newspa- 
per in  the  "New  World  west  of  the  Alleghanies ; "  met  and 
fought  the  British  in  half  a  dozen  battles,  from  King's  Moun- 
tain to  the  gates  of  Charleston,  gaining  a  victory  in  every  bat- 
tle; held  in  check,  beat  back  and  finally  expelled  from  the 
country  four  of  the  most  powerful  tribes  of  Indian  warriors  in 
America;  and  left  Tennesseans  their  fame  as  a  heritage,  and  a 
commonwealth  of  which  it  is  their  privilege  to  be  proud. 

These  are  the  people  among  whom  Andrew  Jackson  settled 
and  began  life,  and  from  whose  character,  example  and  achieve- 
ments he  must  have  received  some  little  degree  of  inspiration. 

Passing  from  the  scene  of  their  toil  and  trials,  their  strug- 
gles and  dangers,  from  war  with  the  savage  and  war  with  the 
civilized,  let  us  devote  a  little  time  to  further  examination  into 
their  character,  as  revealed  in  the  judicial  records  made  and 
left  by  them. 


CHAPTER  III. 

A    UNIQ  UE    CO  VRT. 

THERE  may  be  mistake,  error,  fraud  and  injustice  in  court 
proceedings  and  judicial  records;  but  when  such  records 
were  made  more  than  a  century  ago,  and  contain  some  part 
of  the  history  of  Ihe  people  who  made  them,  and  have  stood 
all  these  years  unchallenged  and  uncontradicted,  such  records 
may  be  safely  accepted  as  truth.  In  writing  of  a  people  more 
than  a  century  after  the  period  in  which  they  lived — a  people 
who  did  not  have  a  daily  newspaper  in  their  midst  to  chronicle 
their  deeds  and  views,  and  who  were  in  a  country  between  which 
and  other  parts  of  the  world  there  was  but  little  if  any  commu- 
nication— it  is  easy  indeed  for  a  facile  writer  to  ascribe  to  them 
characters  which  they  did  not  have,  views  which  they  did  not 
entertain,  and  accomplishments  with  which  they  were  not  en- 
titled to  be  credited,  without  taking  much  risk  of  being  con- 
tradicted. 

The  early  history  of  the  colonies  and  "new  settlements"  in 
North  America  is  and  has  been  for  many  years  a  fascinating 
field  for  writers;  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  too  often  a  little 
incident  or  tradition  has  been  so  magnified  by  a  too  vivid  im- 
agination that  it  has  appeared  in  print  as  a  very  readable  but 
colossal  falsehood.  It  is  also  lamentable  that  the  plain,  un- 
varnished truth  of  history  has,  in  many  instances,  been  so 
colored  and  distorted  in  the  effort  to  make  it  romantic,  that 
many  persons  who  could  have  contributed  much  valuable  infor- 
mation in  the  way  of  simple  facts  have  not  done  so,  because  of 
a  lack  of  that  faculty  of  imagination  which  some  writers  pos- 
sess to  such  a  degree  that  they  can  inform  you  beforehand  that 


A  Unique  Court.  39 

they  are  going  to  tell  you  a  lie — in  part,  at  least — and  yet  will 
tell  it  in  such  beautiful  language  and  in  so  smooth  and  plausible 
a  way  as  to  make  you  believe  the  whole  story. 

The  Tennessee  pioneers  did  not  have  any  one  with  them  in 
their  earliest  days  to  write  an  account  of  their  experiences,  or 
to  portray  their  lives  and  characters;  nor  did  they  have  any 
newspapers  to  make  a  record  of  their  doings  in  the  business 
concerns  and  affairs  of  life;  and  if  they  wrote  any  letters  on 
these  matters,  they  have  not  been  preserved.  They  had,  how- 
ever, at  Jonesboro,  a  ' '  County  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter 
Sessions, "  in  which  they  made  and  left  a  record  showing  much 
that  they  did,  and  from  which,  even  at  this  late  day,  we  can 
get  a  very  clear  insight  into  their  views  as  to  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  citizenship,  the  power  and  duty  of  courts,  as 
well  as  their  notions  concerning  the  business  and  social  rela- 
tions of  life,  and  indeed  on  all  matters  which,  in  their  judg- 
ment, pertained  in  any  way  to  the  peace,  good  fame  and  welfare 
of  the  community  and  of  individuals,  I  shall,  therefore,  quote 
literally  much  from  these  old  original  records  kept  in  Washing- 
ton county — the  quotations  being  taken  from  the  records  of  that 
county  only,  for  the  reason  that  it  was  the  first  county  estab- 
lished and  organized  in  what  is  now  Tennessee,  and  included 
for  quite  a  time  all  of  the  early  settlements  in  what  is  commonly 
known  as  "upper  East  Tennessee."  The  same  character  of 
entries  will  no  doubt  be  found  in  the  old  records  kept  in  Sul- 
livan, Greene,  Davidson,  Hawkins,  Sumner,  Tennessee  and 
Knox  counties,  in  all  of  which  Jackson  practised  as  an  attorney 
or  presided  as  a  judge.  The  proceedings  in  the  courts  of  the 
counties  named,  especially  those  that  will  be  set  out,  will  be  of 
interest  not  alone  to  Tennesseans,  but  also  to  the  descendants, 
scattered  throughout  the  southwest  and  west,  of  the  men  who 
made  these  records. 


40  Deopped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

The  first  session  of  the  court  was  held  at  the  log-cabin  of 
Charles  Roberson,  near  Jonesboro,  February  23,  1778.  It  was 
composed  of  the  justices  of  the  peace  whose  names  have  been 
given  as  subscribers  to  the  oath  set  out  in  a  preceding  chapter. 
After  the  court  had  been  organized  by  electing  officers,  its  first 
act  was  to  fine  John  Sevier,  Jr. ,  for  some  minor  matter  which 
was  gravely  denominated  "a  contempt  to  the  court."  John 
Sevier,  Sr.,  had  just  been  elected  clerk  of  the  court,  and  was 
undoubtedly  the  most  influential  man  in  the  country,  on  account 
of  his  meritorious  character — but  this  did  not  shield  the  son. 
The  fine  was  not  remitted ;  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  John 
Sevier  the  clerk  endeavored  in  any  way  to  interpose. 

On  the  second  day,  ' '  William  Cocke  by  his  counsel  Waight- 
sell  Avery  moved  to  be  admitted  to  the  office  of  Clerk  of  this 
County  of  Washington  which  motion  was  rejected  by  the  Court 
knowing  that  John  Sevier  was  entitled  to  the  office. "  This  is 
absolutely  the  whole  of  the  record.  It  was  the  first  contested 
election  case  that  occurred  west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains, 
and  was  between  two  citizens  who  became  very  distinguished — 
Cocke  having  been  elected  one  of  the  first  two  Senators  from 
Tennessee,  while  Sevier,  after  holding  all  the  other  offices  within 
the  gift  of  the  people  of  that  county,  was  elected  a  representa- 
tive in  Congress  and  six  times  chosen  Governor  of  Tennessee. 
The  worthy  justices,  "knowing,"  as  they  said,  that  Sevier  had 
been  elected,  without  hearing  Mr.  Cocke,  his  counsel  or  any  evi- 
dence whatsoever,  swore  in  Sevier  as  clerk. 

These  entries  follow: 

Ordered  that  David  Hinkley  be  fined  30  L.  for  insulting  the 
Court. 

Ordered  that  Hump  Gibson  be  fined  10  L.  for  swearing  in 
Court. 

Then,  after  passing  upon  a  motion  or  two — 


A  Unique  Court.  41 

Ordered  that  Ephriam  Dunlap  Atty.  be  fined  5  Dollars  for 
insulting  the  Court,  especially  Richard  White. 

It  is  not  likely  that  any  member  of  this  court  had  ever  held 
any  oflSce  prior  to  his  appointment  as  a  justice  of  the  peace 
therein,  and  it  is  not  probable  that  many  of  them  had  ever  been 
in  a  court  of  any  kind  before  they  organized  that  which  they 
constituted;  and  yet  the  record  shows  that,  from  the  first  day 
of  the  first  term,  and  on  through  all  of  the  many  stormy  ses- 
sions which  they  held  thereafter,  they  guarded  and  defended 
jealously  the  dignity  of  their  court,  and  enforced  obedience  to 
its  mandates.  It  was  a  heinous  oflTence  indeed,  and  visited 
with  condign  punishment,  to  "insult  the  Court." 

The  aggregate  fines  imposed  on  Sam  Tate,  at  one  term, 
amounted  to  forty  thousand  pounds  ;*  and  while  fines  were  im- 
posed on  some  one  at  every  term,  there  are  but  two  entries  to 
be  found  on  the  record,  from  the  February  term,  1778,  to  and 
including  the  November  term,  1790,  showing  that  such  fines 
were  remitted. 

At  the  May  term,  1778,  a  somewhat  embarrassing  question 
presented  itself.  Some  one  of  three  persons,  it  would  appear, 
had  taken  from  Samuel  Sherrill,  f  without  his  consent,  his  bay 
gelding,  and  left  the  country.  They  could  not,  therefore,  get 
any  one  of  the  suspected  persons  into  court  or  in  custody,  and 
they  must  have  been  in  doubt  as  to  which  of  the  three  did  in 
fact  ride  the  horse  off;  so  they  said: 

On  motion  it  appears  that  Joshua  Williams  Johnathan  Helms 
and  a  certain  James  Lindley  did  Feloniously  Steal  a  certain 
Bay  gelding  horse  from  Saml  Sherill  Senr.  Ordered  that  if 
the  said  Saml  Sherill  can  find  any  property  of  the  said  Joshua 
Williams  Johnathan  Helms  &  said  Lindley  that  he  take  same 
into  his  possession. 

• 

*('ontinent»l  currency. 

tTbis  was  the  father  of  Catherine  Sherrill,  the  "  Bonnie  Kate  "  of  John  Sevier. 


42  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

So  far  as  the  record  shows,  they  never  caught  any  of  the  de- 
fendants, but  Sherrill  must  have  got  close  on  them  at  one  time ; 
for,  at  the  August  term,  the  court  ' '  ordered  that  a  saddle  and 
coat  the  property  of  Joshua  Williams  be  sold  and  the  money 
arising  therefrom  be  left  in  the  possession  of  Saml  Sherill." 
They  could  not  capture  and  punish  the  thieves,  but  they  could 
and  did  authorize  Sherrill  to  sei?e  the  property  of  the  rascals 
wherever  he  could  find  it. 

The  first  case  of  high  treason  tried  by  the  court  was  at  the 

August  term,  1778.     This  is  the  record: 

State  "| 

V.  y  High  Treason. 

Moses  Crawford.  ) 

It  is  the  Opinion  of  the  Court  that  the  defendant  be  im- 
prisoned during  the  present  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  the 
Sheriff  take  the  whole  of  his  estate  into  custody  which  must  be 
valued  by  a  jury  at  the  next  Court  and  that  the  one  half  of  the 
said  estate  be  kept  by  the  said  Sheriff  for  the  use  of  the  State 
and  the  other  half  remitted  to  the  family  of  defendant. 

I  have  not  examined  the  statute  under  which  this  county 
court  tried,  convicted  and  imprisoned  defendants  charged  with 
treason,  and  confiscated  their  property,  to  see  whether  or  not 
they  had  a  right  to  remit  one  half  of  confiscated  property  to  the 
family  of  the  defendant,  for  the  reason  that  I  do  not  wish  to 
know  how  the  fact  was.  I  am  satisified  with  the  record  as  they 
made  it,  and  leave  others  to  look  up  the  statute. 

Having  disposed  of  Crawford — and  his  property  too — they 
took  up  the  case  of  Isaac  BuUer,  whom,  as  he  had  neither 
family  nor  property,  and  the  evidence,  if  any  was  heard  (on 
motion),  was  a  little  vague,  they  simply  put  in  prison  until  an 
opportunity  should  offer  to  make  a  better  use  of  him.  This  is 
the  summary  manner  in  which  they  disposed  of  Isaac: 

On  motion  of  Ephriam  Dunlap  that  Isaac  Buller  Should  Be 
sent  to  the  Contl.  Army,  and  there  to  Serve  three  Years  or 


A  Unique  Couet.  43 

During  the  War  On  Hearing  the  facts  it  is  Ordered  by  the  Court 
That  the  said  Isaac  Buller  Be  Immediately  Committed  to  Gaol 
and  there  Safely  kept  until  the  said  Isaac  can  be  delivered  unto 
A  Continent' 1  Officer  to  be  Conveyed  to  Head  Quarters. 

At  the  February  term,  1779,  the  court  made  and  entered  of 
record  an  order  prescribing  the  charges  that  tavern-keepers 
might  exact  from  guests  as  follows: 

Diet  08s.  0:  Lodging  1  night  good  bed  and  clean  sheets  Is. 
6d:  Rum  Wine  or  Brandy  3L.4s.O:  Toddy  pr  Quart,  &  sprts 
of  Rum  therein  8s.  0.  and  so  in  proportion.  Corn  or  Oats  per 
Gal  4s.  0 :  Stabledge  with  hay  or  fodder  24  hrs  4s.  0 :  Pastur- 
age 24  hrs.  2s:  Cyder  pr  qrt  4s.  0 :  Bear  pr  qrt  2s.O:  Whisky 
pr  Gallon  2L.0.0: 

After  they  had  put  the  above  on  record,  they  entered  upon 
the  trial  of  their  second  case  of  a  very  high  crime,  as  the  follow- 
ing entry  shows: 

State         ") 
vs.  (■  JF'or  Treason  Feby  1779 

George  Leivis.  ) 

On  hearing  the  facts  and  considering  the  testimony  of  the 
Witnesses  It  is  the  Opinion  of  the  Court  That  the  defendant  be 
sent  to  the  District  Gaol  It  Apg.  To  the  Court  that  the  said 
Leivis  is  a  spie  or  An  Officer  from  Florida  out  of  the  English 
Army. 

At  this  term,  besides  transacting  routine  business,  they  tried 
ten  persons  on  charges  of  treason,  convicted  five  of  them, 
ordered  their  property  confiscated,  and  sent  them  to  the  district 
jail  at  Salisbury — and  the  entire  record  of  the  term  is  contained 
on  twelve  pages! 

If  this  court  could  have  been  transferred  to  the  more  intelli- 
gent states  of  Massachusetts  or  New  Hampshire,  and  had  held 
a  few  terms  therein,  "Shays's  rebellion"  would  have  been 
crushed  out  in  a  week,  or  all  the  "gaols"  would  have  been 
filled  with  the  rebellious  and  the  public  treasury  with  the  pro- 
ceeds of  confiscated  property.     These  patriots  were  in  earnest. 


44  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

At  the  May  term,  1779,  two  entries  appear  as  having  been 
made  on  the  same  day,  which  show  two  sides  of  this  remark- 
able court.     The  first  entry  is  as  follows: 

State        ^ 
V.  y  For  stealing  a  Ploughshear,  hogs  and  some 

Pat  Murphey  )      other  Things 

The  Court  are  of  Opinion  that  the  defendant  pay  33L.  6s. 
8d.  to  Zachr.  Isbell  for  his  Hog  &  26L.  13s.  4  to  Thos.  Evans 
for  his  Hog  and  ten  pounds  fine  And  also  receive  Twenty  Lashes 
on  his  bare  Back  well  laid  on  by  the  Sheriff  or  Deputy, 

The  other  entry  was: 

Ordered  that  John  Murphey  be  fined  the  sum  of  Twenty 
pounds  for  111  Treatment  to  his  reputed  father  Pat  Murphey. 

The  court  said  that,  in  its  opinion,  Pat  Murphey  was  a  bad 
man — and  he  was,  as  other  cases  in  the  records  against  him 
show;  and  they  had  him  whi))ped,  fined  him  and,  under  the 
operation  of  the  court's  adjustable  jurisdiction,  rendered  judg- 
ment against  him  in  a  criminal  case  for  the  value  of  two  hogs; 
but  these  "backwoods  "  justices  of  the  peace  said  to  the  reputed 
son  of  this  old  and  hardened  criminal  that  "111  Treatment"  of 
a  father,  by  even  a  reputed  son,  would  not  be  tolerated  in  that 
community. 

At  this  May  term,  and  following  the  entries  just  given,  is 
another,  which,  in  a  few  words  and  (so  far  as  the  record  shows) 
without  any  previous  notice,  deprives  a  citizen  of  his  liberty 
and  of  further  opportunity  to  do  harm  to  ' '  the  common  cause 
of  liberty, "  on  the  mere  motion  of  the  state's  attorney.  Here 
it  is: 

On  motion  of  E.  Dunlap  State  Attorney  it  is  ordered  that 
John  Holly  for  his  111  practices  in  Harboring  and  Abetting  dis- 
orderly persons  who  are  prejudicial  and  Inimical  to  the  Com- 
mon Cause  of  Liberty  and  Frequently  Disturbing  our  public 
Tranquility  in  Genl.  be  Imprisoned  for  the  Term  &  Time  of 
One  Year. 


A  Unique  Court.  45 

Up  to  the  date  of  the  entry  of  this  order  imprisoning  John 
Holly  ' '  for  the  term  and  time  of  one  year, "  on  the  mere  mo- 
tion of  the  state's  attorney,  the  record  shows  a  little  more  for- 
mality iu  convictions  for  treason  and  the  confiscation  of  prop- 
erty, as  it  will  appear  from  the  recitals  that  the  court,  "on 
considering  the  facts,"  or  "on  hearing  the  witnesses  [or  evi- 
dence]," "are  of  opinion,"  etc. 

It  is  very  doubtful  whether  there  can  be  found  (outside  of 
Tennessee)  another  such  judicial  record  as  this  one,  made  and 
entered  on  a  mere  motion,  without  the  accused  having  previous 
notice  or  (so  far  as  the  record  shows)  being  present  iu  person 
or  by  attorney,  and  without  any  evidence  being  heard  to  sup- 
port the  charge,  embodied  in  the  motion,  that  Holly  was  an 
enemy  to  the  public  tranquillity  generally  and  guilty  of  other 
specified  oflfences.  It  is  safe  to  assume,  however,  that  the  court 
"knew"  he  was  guilty,  as  they  "knew"  that  John  Sevier  was 
entitled  to  the  oflSce  of  clerk  when  they  dismissed  Cocke's  con- 
test without  hearing  him  at  all. 

At  this  term,  the  court  "nominated  and  appointed  John 
Sevier,  Jesse  Walton  and  Zachr.  Isbell  to  take  into  possession 
such  property  as  should  be  confiscated,"  and  they  gave  "bond 
as  such  commissioners  in  the  sum  of  Five  Hundred  and  Fifty 
Thousand  pounds." 

And  they  had  the  "tax-dodger"  with  them  also,  as  early  as 
August,  1779 — the  good  citizen  who  always  wants  his  full  share 
of  attention  and  protectiorf  by  the  law,  without  paying  his  just 
proportion  of  the  taxes  to  support  the  government ;  but  he  could 
not  escape  this  court's  resourceful  remedies  for  all  exigencies. 
Here  is  given  the  disposition  of  the  case : 

Ordered  that  the  Sheriff  Collect  from  Wm.  More  four  fold: 
his  Taxable  property  being  apraised  by  the  Best  Information 
that  John  Woods,  Jacob  Brown  &  Johnathan  Tipton  Assessors 
could  get — to  the  sum  of  Eight  thousand  pounds. 


46  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

Even  the  smart  and  rascally  tax-dodger  could  not  evade  the 
law,  with  a  court  like  that  one  to  take  hold  of  him. 

At  the  May  term,  1780,  it  was  "Ord.  that  a  fine  of  One 
Hundred  pounds  be  imposed  on  John  Chisholm  Esqr  for  being 
Guilty  of  Striking  and  Beating  Abram  Denton  in  the  Court 
Yard  also  Disturbing  the  peace  and  Decorum  of  the  Court  and 
that  the  Clerk  issue  an  execution  for  the  same. "  This  fine  is 
here  set  out  for  the  reason  that  John  Chisholm  was  one  of  the 
first  justices  appointed  for  the  county — he  was  at  the  time  a 
member  of  the  court  that  imposed  this  fine — and,  as  the  records 
show,  was  wealthy  and  prominent  in  public  afl!airs,  being  trusted 
with  various  appointments  by  the  court;  and  yet  he  did  not 
escape  the  hand  of  correction  so  often  laid  on  oflfenders  by  the 
court  in  one  or  another  way.  The  offence  for  which  he  was 
fined  was  committed,  not  in  the  presence  of  the  court,  but  out 
in  the  court-yard.  I  very  much  doubt  if  an  instance  prior  to 
this  one  can  be  found,  where  the  limits  within  which  it  has 
been  held  that  a  contempt  of  court  could  be  committed  have 
been  so  extended  as  to  include  the  court-yard. 

At  the  November  term,  1780,  the  court  formulated  and  en- 
tered the  following  very  remarkable  order: 

The  Court  appointed  John  Sevier,  William  Cobb,  Thomas 
Houghton  and  Andrew  Greer  Commissioners  for  the  County  to 
be  Judges  of  the  Different  kinds  of  paper  Emissions  in  Circu- 
lation in  this  County  or  may  be  hereafter,  in  order  to  prevent 
frauds  and  Impositions  that  might  be  committed  on  said  County, 
and  for  the  purpose  of  Detecting  and  Suppressing  Coins  of  this 
kind,  who  shall  be  the  Judges  &  Viewers  of  all  such  Monies. 

The  record  recites  that  these  commissioners  and  judges  '  *  took 
the  oath  and  entered  into  bond  for  the  performance  of  sd  Trust. " 

At  the  time  these  four  gentlemen  were  appointed  as  a  high 
commission  to  be  "judges  and  viewers"  of  the  currency  of  the 
realm,  and  ' '  detectors  and  suppressers  "  of  spurious  or  counter- 


A  Unique  Court.  47 

feit  "coins"  and  "paper  emissions  in  circulation,"  all  kinds  of 
"such  monies"  seem  to  have  gotten  into  "the  new  world  west 
of  the  Alleghanies, "  for,  at  the  same  term  of  the  court  making 
the  order  regulating  the  charges  of  tavern-keepers,  referred  to 
above,  two  rates  or  schedules  were  prescribed,  one  in  "paper 
emissions,"  the  other  in  "coins."  The  order  of  the  county 
court  creating  this  commission  and  investing  it  with  power  to 
"view"  and  "judge"  of  the  genuineness  of  the  circulating 
medium,  and  to  detect  and  suppress  such  of  it  as  should  be 
adjudged  fraudulent,  does  not  point  out  the  way,  lay  down  any 
rules  or  provide  any  method  for  the  guidance  and  direction  of 
the  commission  in  the  exercise  of  the  powers  given  or  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duties  imposed.  It  says  simply  what  they  shall 
do,  or  rather  what  they  have  been  appointed  to  do,  and  then 
leaves  them  to  do  it.  That  they  found  out  an  effective  way  to 
exercise  their  powers  there  is  not  a  doubt.  They  did  not  need 
to  be  given  "mandatory"  power.  "Counterfeiters"  had  been 
"dealt  with,"  before  this  domestic  monetary  commission  was 
created,  by  some  of  the  same  men  who  constituted  the  com- 
mission. 

One  of  the  most  delicate  and  difficult  duties  that  devolved 
upon  this  commission,  under  the  terms  of  the  order  creating  it — 
particularly  the  words,  "in  order  to  prevent  frauds  and  impo- 
sitions that  might  be  committed,"  etc. — was  in  cases  where  a 
question  was  raised  as  to  the  genuineness  of  the  money  offered 
in  payment  by  a  citizen  known  to  be  upright  and  free  from  any 
suspicion  of  handling  spurious  money,  to  another  equally  honest, 
who  refused  it  because  he  was  doubtful  as  to  its  being  ' '  good 
money."  The  "judges  and  viewers"  were  called  in  to  take 
action,  and  had  to  decide  in  effect  whether  or  not  the  money 
offered  was  a  "legal  tender."  Their  decision  was  accepted; 
and  henceforth  that  particular  money  circulated,  if  so  ordered, 


48  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

without  question,  and  performed  all  the  functions  of  money, 
whether  it  was  in  fact  genuine  or  spurious :  if  the  decision  was 
adverse,  that  money  was  thenceforth  worthless. 

As  an  incident  of  the  power  and  authority  vested  in  these 
'<  judges  and  viewers,"  arose  the  question  occasionally  of  guilt 
or  innocence,  when  a  charge  of  counterfeiting  or  of  wilfully 
and  knowingly  passing  spurious  money  was  preferred.  The 
person  so  charged  was  tried  before  the  high  currency  commis- 
sion, and  its  finding  or  judgment  not  only  settled  the  question 
of  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  accused,  but  made  the  par- 
ticular currency  involved  either  ''sound  money"  or  counterfeit 
in  that  entire  country.  John  Sevier,  according  to  tradition, 
was  chairman  of  the  commission;  if  his  name  was  written  on 
the  ' '  paper  emission, "  it  passed  current  thereafter,  and  when 
offered  in  payment  was  a  < « legal  tender. " 

The  court  also  ' '  Ordered  that  Capt.  John  Patterson  deliver 
unto  John  Halley  a  Certain  Rifle  Gun  being  the  property  of 
said  John  Halley. " 

Some  very  serious  difference  or  grave  misunderstanding  be- 
tween the  court  and  Mr.  James  Gribson  must  have  occurred  at 
the  November  term,  1780,  or  at  some  time  previous,  if  the 
record  left  in  reference  thereto  be  correct — and  who  would 
doubt  it?  Whether  or  not  the  court  intended  to  suppress  free- 
dom of  speech  generally,  it  must  be  admitted  that  its  action 
toward  Gibson  would  certainly  tend  toward  suppressing  the 
public  expression  of  a  want  of  confidence  in  the  integrity  of 
that  court,  and  putting  a  stop  to  the  practice  of  ' '  throwing  out 
speeches"  against  it.     The  record  relates  that — 

James  Gibson  being  brought  before  the  Court,  for  through- 
ing  Out  Speeches  Against  the  Court,  to-wit, — Saying  that  the 
Court  was  purjured  and  would  not  do  Justice,  and  Other  Glare- 
ing  Insults.  The  Court  On  Considering  the  matter  are  of 
Opinion  that  the  said  James  Gibson  is  guilty  of  a  flagrant 


A  Unique  Court.  49 

Breach  of  The  peace  &  for  the  same  and  the  glareing  and  Dare- 
ing  insults  offered  to  the  Court  do  order  that  the  said  James 
Gibson  be  fined  the  sum  of  fifteen  thousand  pounds  &  that  he 
be  kept  in  custody  until  same  is  secured. 

Gibson,  as  the  record  shows,  secured  the  fine.  It  is  not  to 
be  supposed  that  any  of  the  ' '  speeches  "  which  he  had  been 
"throwing  out"  were  made  in  the  court  room  or  in  hearing  of 
the  court,  because  the  record  states  that  he  was  ' '  brought  be- 
fore the  court. "  When  and  where  he  assailed  this  august  body 
does  not  appear.  This  did  not  matter  to  them:  their  jurisdic- 
tion was  as  wide  as  the  universe,  and  their  power  to  punish 
him  unquestionable,  as  they  believed.  The  fine  imposed  on 
John  Chisholm,  a  member  of  the  court,  for  striking  and  beat- 
ing Abram  Denton  out  in  the  court-yard;  the  fine  imposed  on 
John  Murphey,  for  ' '  ill  treatment "  of  his  reputed  father,  no 
doubt  at  home;  the  order  directing  Capt.  Patterson  to  deliver 
"unto  John  Halley"  a  gun  decided  by  the  court  to  be  "the 
property  of  said  John  Halley  " ;  the  method  employed  to  pun- 
ish Gibson;  the  creation  of  a  commission  to  determine  in  effect 
what  money  should  or  should  not  be  a  legal  tender,  as  well  as 

the  other  matters,  hereafter  to  be  related,  to  which  they  gave 
» 

attention,  show  that  this  remarkable  court  had  no  idea  of  hav- 
ing its  powers  limited  and  defined  or  its  jurisdiction  circum- 
scribed. 

Only  two  orders  of  the  May  term,  1781,  will  be  noticed. 
The  first  is,  ' '  Ord,  that  Saml  Tate  be  fined  the  sum  of  ten 
thousand  pounds*  for  a  contempt  of  Court  and  that  the  Clerk 
issue  F.  Facious  vs  his  estate  for  the  same."  On  a  subsequent 
day  of  the  term,  the  clex'k  acknowledges  the  receipt  of  the  fine 
imposed  on  Tate.  The  other  order  is:  "Ordered  that  Jesse 
Greer  be  fined  the  sum  of  One  Hundred  pounds  for  a  Contempt 

*  It  must  constantly  be  kept  in  mind  that  these  apparently  enormous  sums  were 
in  Continental  currency. 


50  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

offered  to  the  Court  &c  in  refusing  to  deliver  unto  the  Widow 
Dyckes  her  property  as  Directed  By  Order  of  the  Court." 
Under  their  rules  of  practice,  they  did  not  require  "the  Widow 
Dj'ckes"  to  emplo}^  a  lawyer  and  bring  an  action  of  replevin 
against  Greer ;  they  had  heard  the  case  at  a  former  term  ' '  on 
motion,"  without  stating  on  the  record  who  made  the  motion, 
and  had  directed  Greer  to  deliver  the  property  in  question  to 
the  widow  Dyckes,  which  he  had  refused  to  do.  They  did  not 
require  her  to  employ  counsel  to  sue  Greer  and  recover  a  judg- 
ment for  the  value  of  the  property  detained  from  her,  issue 
execution,  levy  on  and  sell  the  property  to  satisfy  the  judg- 
ment; they  made  use  of  a  much  more  direct  method,  by  hold- 
ing Mr.  Greer  liable  for  contempt,  and  resorting  to  their  favor- 
ite mode  of  administering  justice  without  delay — to-wit,  "on 
motion  "  and  ' '  ordered. " 

At  the  May  term,  1782,  nothing  of  any  considerable  conse- 
quence was  done.  The  court  "nominated  and  appointed  John 
Sevier  William  Cocke  and  Valentine  Sevier  Commissioners  of 
Confiscation  for  .the  year  1782,  whereupon  sd.  Comr's  entered 
into  bond  with  security  for  the  sum  of  Fifteen  Thousand 
pounds,  Specie." 

The  court,  at  this  term,  gave  to  a  citizen  who  had  evidently 
been  "hiding  out"  permission  to  return  to  the  settlements,  as 
the  following  order  shows: 

On  motion  that  Joshua  Baulding  should  be  admitted  to  come 
in  and  lieraain  henceforth  peaceably  in  this  County.  On  pro- 
viso, that  he  comply  with  the  Laws  provided  for  persons  being 
inimical  to  the  State  and  have  Rendered  Service  that  will  ex- 
piate any  Crime  that  he  has  been  Guilty  of  inimical  to  this 
State  or  the  United  States.  The  Court  on  considering  the  same 
Grant  the  sd  Leave. 

This  order,  and  others  similar  to  it,  which  are  not  given  place 
in  this  chapter,  serve  to  establish  beyond  question  the  intense 


A  Unique  Court.  51 

loyalty  of  the  members  of  tlie  court  to  '  •  the  common  cause  of 
liberty  "  (as  the  struggle  of  the  Americans  then  going  on  against 
Great  Britain  was  always  designated),  and  also  the  vigilance 
with  which  they  must  have  scrutinized  the  conduct  of  each  in- 
dividual. There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Baulding  had  fled  and 
was  hiding  in  the  hills  or  mountains,  and  that  he  knew  it  would 
not  be  safe  to  return  or  "come  in"  without  the  permission  of 
the  court. 

The  August  term,  1782,  was  one  of  the  most  memorable  in 
the  history  of  the  court.  It  was  a  ' '  Court  of  Oyer  and  Term- 
iner &  Genl.  Gaol  Delivery,"  as  well  as  for  other  county  pur- 
poses. At  this  term  it  was  presided  over  for  the  first  time  by 
a  judge — "the  Honl.  Spruce  McCay  Esqr  Present  and  Presid- 
ing. "  He  had  the  court  opened  by  proclamation,  and  with  all 
the  formality  and  solemnity  characterizing  the  opening  of  the 
English  courts. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  term,  John  Vann  was  found  guilty, 
by  a  jury,  of  horse-stealing,  the  punishment  for  w]iich  at  that 
time  was  death.  On  the  same  day  the  record  contains  an  entry 
to  the  effect  that  ' '  the  Jury  who  passed  upon  the  Tryal  of  John 
Vann  beg  Leave  to  Recommend  him  to  the  Court  for  Mercy"; 
but  no  mercy  was  shown  him  by  ' '  the  Honl.  Spruce  McCay 
Esqr,"  as  the  record  discloses  further  along.  During  the  week, 
two  more  unfortunates — Isaac  Chote  and  William  White — were 
found  guilty  of  horse-stealing;  and,  on  the  last  day  of  the  term 
(August  20),  Judge  McCay  disposes  of  all  three  of  these  crim- 
inals in  one  order,  as  follows :  ' '  Ord  that  John  Vann  Isaac 
Chote  &  Wm  White  now  Under  Sentence  of  Death  be  executed 
on  the  tenth  day  of  September  next. "  This  is  the  whole  of  the 
entry. 

The  judge  was  mistaken  in  saying  that  the  three  persons 
named  in  the  order  were  "under  sentence  of  death."     No  such 


52  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

sentence  is  to  be  found  of  record— all  that  appears  is  an  entry 
of  the  style  of  the  case,  as  ' '  State  vs  "  etc. ,  in  each  case,  and 
tlie  entry  opposite  the  case,  that  "the  jury  sworn  to  pass  upon 
the  Tryal  do  find  the  defendant  guilty  in  manner  and  form  as 
charged  in  the  indictment " ;  but  there  is  no  formal  sentence  of 
death  entered  of  record  in  either  of  the  three  cases.  It  is  not 
probable  that  a  parallel  proceeding  can  be  found  in  judicial  his- 
tory. Judge  McCay  utterly  ignored  the  unanimous  action  of 
the  jury  who  recommended  John  Vann  to  the  mercy  of  the 
court.  Can  a  case  be  found  where  a  judge,  in  the  United  States, 
ever  refused  mercy  to  a  criminal  who  was  commended  to  him 
for  mercy  by  the  jury  that  found  him  guilty  ?  Can  another 
case  be  found  where  a  judge  caused  three  persons  to  be  "  exe- 
cuted" by  one  order,  consisting  of  five  lines  and  seventeen 
words,  exclusive  of  the  names  of  the  criminals  ? 

Judge  McCay  omits  entirely  to  direct  the  method  of  execut- 
ing the  three  criminals — he  does  not  say  whether  they  shall  be 
hanged,  shat,  burned  or  drowned — but  they  were  executed, 
either  with  rope,  rifle  or  tomahawk,  according  to  the  good 
taste  of  the  sheriflf  or  the  wishes  of  the  defendants. 

Tradition  in  that  country  gave  Judge  McCay  the  character 
of  a  heartless  tyrant.  He  was  said,  while  judge,  to  have  al- 
ways been  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  suits  tried  before  him; 
and  he  never  failed  to  let  it  be  known  which  side  he  was  on. 
He  frequently  indulged  in  lecturing,  not  to  say  abusing,  juries 
publicly,  when  they  returned  verdicts  contrary  to  his  wishes 
and  instructions.  But  "the  Honl.  Spruce  McCay  Esqr"  found 
his  match  in  the  juries.  They  could  not  be  driven  or  intimi- 
dated into  giving  verdicts  contrary  to  their  convictions;  and 
whenever  they  differed  with  the  judge — and  they  always  knew 
his  views — in  a  case  of  weight  or  serious  results,  they  would 
deliberately  disperse,  go  to  their  homes,  and  not  return  any 


A  Unique  Court.  53 

more  during  that  term  of  court.  In  a  case  styled  ' '  State  vs 
Taylor, "  the  record  shows  that  the  jury  was  sworn  and  the  de- 
fendant put  on  "Tryal."  Nothing  more  appears  except  the 
following  significant  entry:  " State  vs.  Taylor.  The  jury  hav- 
ing failed  to  come  back  into  court,  it  is  therefore  a  mistrial. " 

Judge  McCay  may  only  have  been,  as  has  been  said  of  him, 
' '  a  man  of  strong  character,  determined  and  fearless  in  dis- 
charging his  duty" — but  so  were  the  juries  in  that  county,  as 
the  records  show. 

At  the  May  term,  1783,  there  was  made  an  entry,  which, 
when  taken  in  connection  with  one  which  will  be  given  imme- 
diately after  it,  will  show  how  wisely  these  pioneers  judged  of 
men,  and  how  necessary,  sometimes,  it  was  for  them  to  take 
measures  which  at  the  time  appeared  harsh  and  cruel.  The 
first  entry  is  as  follows : 

On  petition  of  Lewis  &  Elias  Pybourn  that  they  who  is  at 
this  time  Lying  out  and  keep  themselves  Secreted  from  Justice 
that  the  Court  would  permit  them  to  Return  to  their  Respective 
Houses  and  places  of  abode  and  Them  the  said  Lewis  &  Elias 
Pybourn  to  give  bond  and  suflScient  Security  for  their  Good 
behavior  &c.  The  Court  on  consideration  of  the  matter  do 
Grant  and  Give  Leave  unto  said  Elias  &  Lewis  Pybourn  to  Re- 
turn accordingly  on  their  giving  bond  &  approved  security  to 
Capt.  John  Newman  for  their  Good  behavior  &c. 

A  final  entry,  made  in  the  "Superior  Court  of  Law  and 
Equity  "  at  Jonesboro,  seven  years  later — at  the  August  term, 
1790 — in  the  case  of  the  "State  of  North  Carolina  Against 
Elias  Pybourn  for  Horse  Stealing,"  justifies  the  members  of 
the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  in  having  required 
Elias  Pybourn  to  give  security  for  his  future  good  behavior. 
The  full  entry  is  as  follows: 

The  defendant  being  called  to  the  Bar  and  asked  if  he  had 
anything  to  say  why  sentence  should  not  be  passed  upon  him 
Saith  Nothing.     It  is  therefore  Ordered  that  the  said  Elias 


54  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

Pybourn  be  confined  in  the  publick  Pillorj'  one  Hour.  That  he 
have  both  his  ears  nailed  to  the  Pillory  and  severed  from  his 
Head;  That  he  receive  at  the  publick  Whipping  post  thirtj-  nine 
lashes  well  laid  On ;  and  be  branded  on  the  llight  cheek  with 
the  letter  H,  and  on  his  left  cheek  with  the  letter  T.  and  that 
the  Sheriff  of  Washington  County  put  this  sentence  in  execu- 
tion between  the  hours  of  Twelve  and  Two  this  day. 

Horrible,  awful  punishment!  Marked  for  life;  a  description 
of  his  crime  burned  on  and  into  his  face  with  a  hot  iron — 
*  *  Horse  Thief " ;  both  of  his  ears  cut  off  close  up  to  his  head. 
What  a  hideous  spectacle !  Was  the  mark  placed  upon  Cain  by 
the  Almighty  such  that  when  people  met  him  they  said,  ' '  Let 
him  alone;  keep  your  hands  off  him;  he  has  been  punished 
sufficiently  already  "?  Would  not  people  say  the  same  of  poor, 
debased,  degraded  Pybourn? 

Was  the  punishment  inflicted  on  Pybourn  barbarous  ?  Yes ; 
but  the  court  had  warned  him  of  the  wrath  to  come,  and  had 
first  made  him  flee  to  the  forest  for  safety — better  had  he  gone 
to  the  Indians — and  had  then  given  him  permission  to  return 
to  his  home,  on  condition  that  he  would  reform  and  behave 
himself.  The  only  entry  found  in  the  whole  of  the  records  to 
soften  in  the  slightest  degree  the  harsh  and  (it  may  be  said)  in- 
human punishment  meted  out  to  Pybourn,  is  one  that  suggests 
the  horror  that  came  over  one  Joseph  Culton,  when  he  discov- 
ered, after  he  had  emerged  from  a  single  combat  with  Charles 
Young,  that  the  latter  had  bitten  off  one  of  his  ears.  Culton 
of  course  regretted  the  loss  of  his  ear,  and  was  still  more  an- 
noyed to  be  thus  disfigured  for  life;  but  these  were  the  least  of 
his  troubles — somebody  thereafter  might  think  that  he  had 
been  ' '  cropped  "  for  crime.  What  was  he  to  do  ?  He  appeared 
at  the  November  term,  1788,  of  the  Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter 
Sessions,  whose  jurisdiction  knew  no  limits  as  to  venue,  time 
when  or  subject  matter,  and  the  following  entry  was  made  for 
his  relief  and  protection  from  suspicion: 


A  Unique  Court.  55 

Joseph  Culton  comes  into  Court  and  Proved  by  Oath  of  Alex- 
ander Moffit  that  he  lost  a  part  of  his  left  Ear  in  a  fight  with  a 
certain  Charles  Young  and  prays  the  same  to  be  entered  of  rec- 
ord. Ordered  therefore  that  the  same  be  Admitted  Accord- 
ingly. 

It  is  not  probable  that  any  one  ever  examined  this  entry,  and 
demanded  to  see  the  page  whereon  the  lost  ear  had  been  for- 
mally entered  of  record;  but  it  is  certain  that  Joseph  Culton 
carried  with  him  constantly  a  certified  copy  of  the  entry  which 
attested  that  he  had  been  maimed  in  honorable  combat,  and  not 
as  a  punishment  for  violation  of  law. 

This  wonderful  county  court,  before  and  since  which  there 

has  been  none   like  it,  adapted  or  adjusted   its  jurisdictional 

powers  and  methods  to  all  matters,  questions  and  conditions 

that  could  be  brought  in  any  way  to  its  notice.      When  a  stranger 

came  into  the  community,  it  did  not  content  itself  with  letting 

him  alone,  no  matter  how  quietly  and  orderly  he  might  conduct 

himself;  it  had  him  interviewed,  as  the  entry  here  quoted  will 

prove : 

The  Court  Order  that  Wm  Clary  a  trancient  person  give  se- 
curity for  his  behavior,  and  return  to  his  family  within  five 
months,  as  the  said  Clary  is  without  any  pass  or  recommenda- 
tion and  confesses  he  left  his  family  and  have  taken  up  with 
another  woman. 

The  most  that  the  average  detective  could  have  gotten  out  of 
Clary  would  have  been  that  he  came  from — where  he  started, 
and  was  going — where  he  went;  but  the  court  found  out  more 
than  this  about  him,  and  they  must  have  got  it  from  his  own 
mouth,  as  the  order,  after  reciting  facts  that  they  could  have 
gotten  from  him  only,  concludes  by  setting  forth  a  veiy  dam- 
aging confession  which  he  had  made,  and  which,  all  will  agree, 
justified  the  court  in  requiring  security  of  him  for  his  behavior 
while  he  might  remain  in  their  midst,  and  peremptorily  order- 
ing him  to  return  to  his  family  within  a  stated  time. 


56  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  Histoey, 

By  the  time  of  the  meeting  of  the  August  term,  1784,  the 
court  had  pretty  well  purged  the  country  of  traitors,  horse 
thieves,  "  trancients, "  etc.  At  this  term  the  court  seems  to 
have  turned  its  attention  to  the  ugly  habits  of  some  of  the  very 
respectable;  for,  on  the  first  day  of  the  term,  as  the  record 
shows,  fines  were  imposed  and  paid  as  follows:  "  Eml.  Carter 
three  prophane  oaths  8s.  lOd.  pd:  Pharoh  Cobb  four  prophane 
oaths  10s.  8d.  pd:  Buckner  Nantz  One  prophane  swearing  Oath 
prays  mercy  Granted:  Valentine  Sevier  for  prophanely  swear- 
ing 4  Oaths  fined  10s.  8d,  pd:  Mark  Mitchell  for  swearing  One 
prophane  Oath  fined  28.  8d.  Patrick  Murphey  One  Oath, 
Michael  Tylloy  Two  Oaths."  This  treatment  seems  to  have 
been  effective;  for,  no  fines  being  recorded  after  the  first  day, 
it  is  reasonably  sure  that  no  "prophane  oaths"  were  indulged 
in,  during  the  remainder  of  the  term — at  least  in  hearing  of 
the  court. 

As  a  result  of  the  many  battles  with  the  Indians,  and  the 
numerous  Indian  massacres  which  had  occurred,  numbers  of 
children  were  left  without  fathers  or  mothers.  They  had  no 
orphan  asylum,  but  the  records  of  the  court  show  that  homes 
were  provided  for  these  wards,  nevertheless,  by  the  Watauga 
and  King's  Mountain  heroes.  They  had  no  county  asylum  for 
the  poor;  but  the  county  court,  whose  jurisdiction  could  be  ex- 
tended to  meet  all  emergencies,  "ordered"  some  citizen  by 
name  to  "take  and  keep"  the  person  named  therein  for  the 
time  specified.  These  orders  contained  no  recital  that  they 
were  made  by  the  consent  of  anyone — ^they  emanated  from  the 
inherent  power  and  duty  of  the  court,  as  it  believed,  to  provide 
for  the  poor. 

The  entries  and  orders  selected  from  these  old  records  are 
given,  in  order  that  those  who  wish  to  know  something  of  the 
views,  characters  and  abilities  of  the  very  earliest  pioneers  of 


A  Unique  Court.  57 

Tennessee,  may  read  for  themselves  the  views  and  opinions 
which  they  placed  in  solemn  form  on  court  records,  in  reference 
to  the  various  matters,  questions  and  conditions  on  which,  as 
they  thought,  the  vicissitudes  of  the  times  made  it  necessary 
for  them  to  take  action.  I  wish  to  give,  at  this  place,  two 
more  orders  of  the  court,  before  closing  this  chapter.  At  the 
November  term,  1784,  the  following  was  entered  on  the  record: 

The  Court  recommend  that  there  be  a  Court  House  built  in 
the  following  manner,  to  wit:  24  feet  square  diamond  corners 
and  hewed  down  after  the  same  is  built  up,  9  feet  high  between 
the  two  floors,  and  the  body  of  the  house  4  feet  high  above  the 
upper  floor,  each  floor  to  be  neatly  laid  with  plank.  The  roof 
to  be  of  joint  shingles  neatly  hung  on  with  pegs,  a  Justices 
bench,  A  lawyers  and  a  Clerks  bar,  also  a  Sheriffs  box  to  sit  in. 

At  the  November  term,  1785,  the  following  was  entered: 

The  Court  Ordered  that  Col'o  Charles  Roberson  be  allowed 
fifty  pounds  Current  money  for  the  building  of  the  Court  House 
in  the  Town  of  Jones  Borough. 

As  this  was  the  first  court  house  erected  in  what  is  now  Ten- 
nessee, and  the  one  in  which  Andrew  Jackson,  John  McNairy, 
Archibald  Roane,  William  Cocke,  David  Campbell  and  others 
began  their  professional  careers ;  and  in  and  about  which  John 
Sevier,  though  not  a  lawyer,  rendered  so  much  and  such  in- 
valuable service  in  laying  the  foundations  of  our  state,  and  its 
civil  as  well  as  military  institutions,  I  have  hadiit  reproduced, 
and  present  a  picture  of  it  in  this  little  volume.  From  what 
has  been  said,  and  from  the  records  which  have  been  quoted, 
the  imagination  can  picture  the  scenes  and  proceedings  occur- 
ring in  this  "temple  of  justice" — for  such  it  was,  although 
made  of  logs  ' '  hewed  down  "  and  covering  ' '  hung  on  with  pegs. " 

These  early  records  challenge  comparison,  in  spirit,  form  and  • 
substance,  with  any  others  made  during  the  same  period  in  any 
community,  country  or  state  in  the  United  States.     No  patriotic, 
intelligent  people  can  read  them  without  being  filled  with  ad- 


58  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History 

miration  and  inspired  with  respect  and  reverence  for  the  men 
who  made  them.  They  said,  on  the  first  day  of  the  first  term 
of  the  court,  the  court  must  be  respected ;  to  the  cruel  son,  you 
shall  not  ill-treat  your  father,  though  he  be  a  criminal;  to  the 
vagrant  without  a  "pass  or  recommendation,"  you  must  give 
security  for  your  behavior  or  leave  the  community;  to  the  man 
who  had  abandoned  his  wife,  you  must  return  to  j^our  family; 
to  the  strong  and  influential,  you  must  render  unto  the  widow 
her  own,  or  we  will  force  you  to  do  so  by  fines  that  will  make 
you  glad  to  obey;  to  the  tax-dodger,  you  shall  pay  your  pro- 
portion of  the  taxes ;  to  a  member  of  the  court,  no  matter  what 
3'our  position  is,  if  you  cruelly  beat  your  neighbor,  we  will  take 
from  you  a  large  part  of  your  wealth  and  turn  it  into  the  public 
treasury;  to  the  man  who  was  "throwing  out  speeches"  calcu- 
lated to  destroy  the  influence  of  the  court  for  good,  you  must 
not  malign  the  court,  no  matter  when  nor  where — if  you  do, 
we  will  lay  the  heavy  hand  of  summary  punishment  upon  you; 
to  such  as  were  stirring  up  sedition  and  opposition  to  ' '  the 
common  cause  of  liberty,"  you  shall  not  remain  openly  and 
peaceably  in  the  community  without  giving  security  for  your 
good  conduct;  to  thieves,  we  will  fine,  whip,  brand  and  hang 
you;  to  tories,  we  will  confiscate  your  property  and  imprison 
you ;  to  the  British,  we  will  meet  and  fight  you,  on  every  field 
from  the  mountains  to  "the  sea;  to  the  Indians,  we  will  fight 
you  too,  from  the  mountains  to  the  lakes  and  the  gulf.  And 
they  did  it  all.  Who  could  have  done  more?  They  were  he- 
roes, one  and  all,  but  history,  it  seems,  has  long  since  given 
them  over  to  oblivion. 

Although,  in  1788,  they  had  passed  through  a  "general  in- 
surrection of  the  times, "  as  chronicled  by  the  clerk  of  the  court 
under  the  state  of  Franklin,  and  had  no  doubt  come  out  some- 
what demoralized,  still  the  habit  of  doing  what  they  believed 


A  Unique  Court.  59 

to  be  right  was  so  strongly  imbedded  in  their  natures  that,  at 
a  term  of  court  (February,  1 788)  lield  after  its  reorganization 
following  the  Franklin  collapse,  they  imposed  upon  and  col- 
lected from  one  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  the  county  a 
fine  for  swearing  in  the  court-yard.  The  record  recites  that 
< '  Leroy  Taylor  came  into  Court  and  pays  into  the  Office  the 
fine  prescribed  by  Acts  of  Assembly  for  one  profane  Oath  which 
was  accepted  of.  Oi'dered  therefore  that  he  be  discharged. 
21s."  Leroy  Taylor  was  elected  from  Washington  county  as  a 
delegate  to  the  constitutional  convention  of  1796,  and  was  kept 
in  the  General  Assembly  almost  continuously  for  eight  or  ten 
sessions  after  Tennessee  was  admitted  into  the  Union;  he  was 
the  author  and  introducer  of  the  first  resolution  offered  in  the 
General  Assembly  (in  1801),  raising  a  committee  to  prepare  a 
design  for  the  great  seal  of  the  state  of  Tennessee — but,  with 
all  his  prominence,  he  could  not  with  impunity  make  use  of 
even  "one  profane  oath"  in  hearing  of  the  county  court  of 
Washington  county. 

The  achievements  of  these  old  pioneers  will  run,  however, 
' '  like  the  covenants  of  warranty  with  the  land "  they  loved  so 
well.  A  few  glimmering  memories,  a  few  dim  traditions,  some 
scattered  fragments  of  stories — these  are  all  that  is  left  (out- 
side the  old  court  records  alluded  to)  of  many  of  these  men, 
every  one  of  whom  was  a  giant  in  morals  and  a  colossus  in  in- 
tellect, as  compared  with  many  modern  pigmies  whose  little 
deeds  have  been  magnified  into  great  achievements. 

If  the  structures  of  state,  county  and  municipal  institutions 
in  Tennessee,  and  the  social  fabric  as  well,  had  been  kept  in 
harmony  with  the  pure,  simple,  steadfast  and  enduring  founda- 
tions laid  by  John  Sevier  and  his  contemporaries,  what  models 
we  would  have  today  for  the  world  to  imitate.  Are  we  wiser 
or  better  than  they?  Read  and  study  these  old  records:  then' 
answer. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

A  TRAGIC  EPISODE. 

TENNESSEE  does  not  need  the  prolific  genius  of  the  ro- 
manticist to  embellish  and  invest  with  thrilling  interest  the 
narrative  of  her  origin  and  development,  of  the  hardships 
and  endurance  of  her  pioneers,  of  the  heroism  and  triumphs 
of  her  builders  and  defenders;  but,  looking  backward,  with 
more  than  a  century  between  us  and  the  Revolutionary  War,  we 
would  be  unmanly  not  to  admit  that  at  times  we  were  a  little 
too  vindictive  and  remorseless  in  pursuing  those  whose  rever- 
ence and  love  for  the  "mother  country"  were  stronger  than 
their  desire  for  a  change  and  greater  than  their  faith  in  the 
young  dream  of  American  liberty. 

Whilst  separation  and  independence  were  imposing  theories, 
so  fascinating  to  the  wild  and  restless  spirits  who  had  founded 
and  were  building  up  a  vast  empire  in  the  western  world,  advo- 
cating their  bold  measures  with  absorbing  zeal  and  desperate 
earnestness,  there  was  a  minority,  many  of  whom  were  staid 
and  sturdy,  honest  in  purpose  and  courageous  in  conviction, 
who  regarded  the  movement  as  unwarranted,  and  fraught  with 
immediate  peril  and  ultimate  ruin.  Despite  persuasion,  re- 
monstrance, threats,  social  ostracism  and  what  seemed  to  them 
persecution,  they  held  allegiance  to  the  Crown  as  a  paramount 
duty,  and  regarded  the  war  that  must  inevitably  follow,  in  its 
destruction  of  the  flower  of  the  new  country,  as  a  twin  horror 
of  the  Cretan  Minotaur  that  fed  on  the  Athenian  youth. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  these  tories  ("loy- 
alists," as  they  called  themselves)  were  universally  execrated; 


A  Tragic  Episode.  61 

and  the  most  popular  victor,  with  many  of  the  patriots,  was  he 
who  could  suggest  the  most  humiliating  punishment  for  these 
unfortunates:  thej'  were  put  in  stocks,  chained  to  the  public 
pillories,  cast  into  prison,  and  beggared  by  the  confiscation  of 
their  property,  " without  benefit  of  clergy."  These  and  other 
punishments  inflicted  on  the  tories  were  justified  during  the 
times  as  retaliatory  for  outi'ages  committed  upon  the  patriots 
by  the  British  and  some  of  their  American  allies.  Then,  too, 
some  extenuation  must  be  found  for  the  victorious  revolution- 
ists in  the  riot  of  frenzy  and  demoralization  that  always  fol- 
lows war.* 

In  the  perspective  of  this  group  of  terrible  scenes,  heart- 
aches, desolation  of  homes  and  disruption  of  families  that  the 
"common  cause  of  liberty"  might  not  perish,  stands  out  a 
tragedy  which,  while  it  is  of  itself  a  melancholy  picture  of 
misfortune,  suffering,  despair  and  absolute  want,  is  yet  lumi- 
nous with  courageous  manhood  and  the  transcendent  glory  and 
conquering  heroism  of  a  pure  and  noble  womanhood. 

Novr  Term  1780.  Ordered  that  the  Commissioners  advertise 
and  sell  the  property  of  James  Crawford  &  Thomas  Barker, 
they  the  said  James  Crawford  and  Thomas  Barker  being  found 
and  taken  in  Arms  Against  the  State. 

May  Term  1782.  John  Sevier  a  Commissioner  of  Confis- 
cated property  for  the  year  1781,  made  return  that  he  sold  Two 
Slaves  Confiscated  of  the  estate  of  Thomas  Barker  at  the  price 
of  thirty  four  Hundred  pounds,  and  that  he  have  the  money 
ready  to  Return. 

Aug.  Term  1782.  The  Court  Order  that  Mrs.  Ann  Barker 
wife  of  Thomas  Barker  who  stands  charged  with  joining  the 
British  &  was  taken  at  Kings  Mountain  a  prisoner,  by  the 
Americans  &  after  that  his  estate  was  Confiscated  by  the  County 
Court  of  Washington — On  her  application  in  behalf  of  her 
Husband  for  Tryal  by  Jury  the  same  is  Accordingly  Granted. 

*If  the  motives  that  prompted  many  of  the  tories  to  adhere  to  the  British  crown 
during  the  Revolution  were  measured  by  the  more  modern  political  standards  of 
selfishness  or  self-interest,  there  be  many%io\v  who  could  not  make  mouths  at  their 
memories. 


62  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

These  musty  old  records  kept  at  Jonesboro,  stitched  togethei 
like  an  old-fashioned  copy-book,  unbound,  "unhonored  and 
unsung. "  have  slumbered  for  more  than  a  century.  They  con- 
tain history  so  sacred,  however,  that  not  a  mouse  or  a  moth 
has  dared  to  touch  them ;  the  paper  is  still  good  and  the  ink 
and  penmanship  clear  and  legible;  and,  if  properly  cared  for, 
they  will  be  as  enduring  almost  as  th«  principles  of  justice  and 
integrity  that  guided  the  men  who  made  them. 

Connected  with,  growing  out  of  and  clustering  around  some 
entries  and  orders  in  these  almost  forgotten  archives  of  a  by- 
gone century,  there  are  stories  and  traditions  which,  if  they 
could  be  unravelled,  touched  up  and  then  put  togetlier  again 
by  a  skilful  and  painstaking  historian,  would  thrill  with  awe, 
admiration  and  wonder  many  of  the  present  generation,  and 
arouse  in  them  sentiments  and  sympathies  far  more  ennobling 
and  exalting  than  those  aroused  by  the  ephemeral  literature  of 
the  day.  One  only  of  these  stories  and  traditions  have  I  been 
able  to  trace  and  treasure  up,  for  the  purpose  of  giving  it  to 
the  public  at  such  time  as  I  should  think  proper. 

I  have  grouped  the  three  entries  given  above,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  publishing  (for  the  first  time,  so  far  as  I  know)  one  of 
the  saddest  and  most  pathetic  of  the  many  sad  and  pathetic 
stories  of  the  times.  The  mere  reading  of  these  three  short 
entries  suggests  not  only  to  Tennesseans,  but  to  Americans,  a 
whole  history:  the  Revolutionary  War,  King's  Mountain,  trea- 
son, confiscation,  imprisonment,  wife  and  children  reduced  to 
want,  the  faithfulness  of  the  wife  and  her  final  appeal  in  person 
to  the  court  for  a  trial  of  her  husband  by  jury.  But  these  en- 
tries have  their  own  peculiar  and  painful  history,  which  will  be 
related  briefly,  as  obtained  from  sources  which  would  make 
doubt,  on  my  part  at  least,  undutif  ul  and  discrediting  to  my 
ancestors. 


A  Tragic  Episode.  63 

Thomas  Barker  came  to  the  Watauga  country  immediately  pre- 
ceding or  just  after  the  formal  Declaration  of  Independence  was 
made  by  the  colonies.  He  came  from  either  southeastern  Vir- 
ginia or  Maryland.  He  was  a  large,  handsome  man,  over  the 
average  in  intelligence.  He  brought  with  him  a  fair  library  for 
the  times,  the  best  of  household  and  kitchen  furniture,  some 
slaves  and  plenty  of  live  etock  and  farming  utensils.  His  pur- 
pose was  to  acquire  an  immense  estate  in  lands,  which  he  was 
preparing  to  do  when  the  Revolution  broke  out  in  earnest.  He 
was  a  ''tory"  from  the  start,  and  did  not  attempt  to  conceal 
his  views,  which  were,  in  brief,  that  the  colonies  were  too  weak 
to  contend  successfully  with  Great  Britain ;  that  the  latter,  with 
her  wealth  and  facilities,  would  ultimatel}'  crush  out  all  opi>o- 
sition,  and  the  colonies  would  be  reduced  in  resources  and  yet 
subjected  to  burdens  more  oppressive  than  those  complained  of ; 
or,  if  they  were  successful  in  gaining  their  independence,  they 
would  not  be  able  to  agree  among  themselves  upon  such  form 
of  government  as  would  permanently  unite  them  into  one  peo- 
ple, offensive  and  defensive;  that  no  matter  what  form  of  gov- 
ernment they  might  adopt  for  uniting  all  of  the  colonies  into 
one  whole,  they  would  soon  become  disaffected  and  dissolve 
their  relations  to  each  other,  thereby  becoming  a  scattered,  weak 
and  helpless  people  for  more  powerful  nations  to  prey  upon  and 
subjugate;  and  that  it  was  better  to  yield  obedience  to  and  en- 
joy the  protection  of  the  "mother  country." 

These  views  had  been  expressed  by  Barker  to  the  court  which 
afterward  confiscated  his  property,  as  early  as  the  February 
term,  1779.  at  which  term  he  was  arraigned  on  a  charge  of 
"treason."  Barker  also  stated  to  the  court  that  it  was  not  his 
desire  to  take  sides  in  the  struggle;  that  he  preferred,  if  let 
alone,  to  remain  with  them  and  his  wife  and  children,  but  that, 
if  forced  to  participate  on  one  side  or  the  other,  he  should  take 


64  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

up  arms  for  the  ' '  mother  country. "  He  was  a  brave  man  and 
an  honest,  and  the  court  knew  it;  and  they  disposed  of  the 
case — which  was  styled  "State  vs  Thomas  Barker  for  Treason" 
— by  the  following  order:  "On  hearing'  the  facts  It  is  the 
Opinion  of  the  Court  that  he  the  Deft,  be  discharged. "  As  the 
war  progressed,  however,  the  feeling  of  hate  and  bitterness  in 
the  community  against  "  tories"  became  more  and  more  intense, 
and  Barker  finally  left  his  home  and  joined  the  British  army. 
He  was  captured  at  King's  Mountain  by  some  of  the  very  men 
who  constituted  the  court  to  which  he  had  so  boldly  expressed 
his  views  more  than  a  year  before.  He  had  been  made  a  cap- 
tain, and,  according  to  tradition,  commanded  a  company  of 
tories  at  the  battle.  He  was  not  only  a  man  of  personal  cour- 
age, but  he  was  a  proud,  "high-strung"  fellow,  about  twenty- 
eight  or  thirty  years  old-,  and,  at  the  moment  of  the  surrender 
of  the  remnant  of  Ferguson's  army,  he  was  denouncing  in  bitter 
terms  the  cowardice  of  his  own  and  other  troops. 

After  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain,  the  Americans  from 
Virginia  and  from  Washington  and  Sullivan  counties,  North 
Carolina,  started  home  with  the  prisoners,  arms,  etc. ,  captured 
in  the  battle.  On  the  way,  about  October  12  to  14,  a  court 
martial  was  held  at  a  point  called  Bickerstaflf's  Old  Field,  in 
Rutherford  county,  North  Carolina,  and  some  thirty  or  more 
of  the  prisoners  were  sentenced  to  be  hanged — some  for  deser- 
tion from  the  American  army,  others  for  horse-stealing,  and 
still  others  for  crimes  and  outrages  perpetrated  on  the  people 
who  were  supporting  the  "common  cause  of  liberty."  None 
of  those  so  sentenced  were  regular  British  soldiers ;  they  were 
North  Carolina  tories,  some  of  them  from  Washington  and 
Sullivan  counties.  Among  the  latter  were  Thomas  Barker  and 
James  Crawford,  who  were  saved  from  the  ignominious  death 
to  which  they  had  been  sentenced,  and  which  was  actually  in- 


A  Tragic  Episode.  65 

flicted  on  nine  or  ten  of  the  prisoners,  bj'  the  intervention  of 
their  former  friends  and  neighbors  who  were  then  present  as 
soldiers  iu  the  commands  of  Sevier  and  Shelby.  Barker  and 
Crawford  knew  the  men  who  had  captured  them,  and  knew 
that  as  a  class  they  were  both  brave  and  just.  Barker's  bear- 
ing, during  and  after  the  court  martial  proceedings,  was  cool 
and  defiant;  he  said,  with  much  deliberation,  that  he  was  not 
guilty  of  a  single  one  of  the  offences  charged  against  him,  and 
that  there  were  more  than  a  hundred  men  there  who  knew  him 
and  knew  his  statement  to  be  true;  and  he  added  that,  if  they 
stood  by  and  permitted  him  to  be  hanged  for  crimes  he  was  in- 
capable of  committing,  then  he  was  no  judge  of  men. 

This  speech  infuriated  sgme  of  the  men  from  Washington 
and  Sullivan  counties  and  Virginia,  and  they  made  some  demon- 
strations of  instant  violence  upon  the  speaker,  who  stood  with 
a  scowl  upon  his  face,  and,  holding  up  his  open  hands,  said 
quietly:  "I  am  unarmed;  j^ou  can  kill  me,  but  you  can't  scare 
me!"  His  speech,  however,  had  quite  a  different  effect  upon 
those  who  knew  him  at  home,  those  who  knew  his  wife,  and* 
especially  those  who  knew  him  to  be  a  brave,  truthful,  honest 
man.  Col.  Charles  Koberson,  John  McNab,  Charles  xVllison 
and  John  Allison,  *  who  had  participated  in  the  battle  of  King's 
Mountain,  interposed  with  earnestness  and  emphasis  against 
hanging  Barker  and  Crawford,  and  they  were  supported  in 
their  opposition  by  Col.  John  Sevier  and  Col.  Isaac  Shelby, 
which  of  course  settled  it.  Barker  "was  brought  back  to  Joues- 
boro  and  put  in  prison,  where  he  had  been  kept  for  a  little 
more  than  a  year  and  ten  months,  when  his  nobie  wife  appeared 
in  court  in  person,  and  procured  the  order  granting  him  a  trial 
by  jury,  given  above. 

This  August  term,  1782,  was  one  long  talked  of  and  remem- 

*  Graudfather  of  the  writer. 
5 


66  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

bered  for  more  reasons  than  one.  It  was  the  term  at  which  a 
judge — "the  Honl.  Spruce  McCay  Esqr." — presided  for  the 
first  time ;  the  term  at  which  three  horse-thieves  had  been  tried 
and  sentenced  to  be  executed;  the  term  at  which  tories  had 
been  tried  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment,  and  their  property 
confiscated ;  the  term  at  which  some  offenders  were  senteaced  to 
be,  and  were,  whipped  at  the  public  whipping-post.  *  Few,  very 
few  women  would  have  gone  in  person  before  such  a  court,  to 
demand  that  a  tory  be  granted  a  trial  by  jury;  but  Mrs.  An- 
toinette Barker,  wife  of  Thomas  Barker,  walked  into  court, 
with  two  (possibly  three)  small  children  with  her.  Their  ap- 
pearance was  sufficient  to  excite  sympathy:  their  faces  were 
pale  and  haggard,  and  their  clothing,  although  neat,  was 
patched  and  worn.  Mrs.  Barker  was  a  woman  of  fine  appear- 
ance, with  a  beautiful  face  and  a  symmetrical  figure,  and  more 
than  a  match  for  the  court  in  intelligence;  but,  depicted  in 
every  line  of  her  countenance,  were  the  traces  of  mental  anguish 
and  physical  suffering.  She  did  not,  however,  weep,  go  into 
hysterics,  faint,  fall  down  and  be  carried  out,  but  she  stood  up 
in  the  presence  of  that  court,  in  all  the  magnificence  of  supe- 
rior womanhood,  and,  with  the  vehement  eloquence  of  despair, 
pleaded  the  cause  of  her  husband.  All  that  she  said  will  never 
be  known;  some  things  that  she  said  were  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation.  She  ' '  used  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence on  the  court";  she  denied  that  her  husband  was  a 
traitor;  she  reminded  the  justices  that  he  had  stated  his  views 
to  them  openly  and  boldly,  that  he  had  never  taken  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  continental  cause,  and  that  he  had  told  them 
plainly  that,  if  forced  to  a  choice,  he  would  go  into  the  British 
army;  that  he  was  her  husband,  and  a  kind  and  good  one,  and 
the  father  of  her  little,  innocent,  helpless  children ;  that  they 
*  See  chapter  lii. 


A  Tragic  Episode.  67 

had  taken  all  of  his  property  and  left  his  family  paupers;  that 
he  was  then  in  prison,  and  had  been  for  nearly  two  years,  in 
consequence  of  which  his  health  was  altogether  gone ;  that  she 
and  her  little  ones  were  without  a  protector,  and  that  her  neigh- 
bors and  former  friends  had  almost  wholly  forsaken  her.  Her 
face,  no  doubt,  was  flushed  with  the  hot  blood  of  agony  welling 
up  from  her  heart;  possibly  her  voice  grew  weak  and  broke 
under  the  stress  of  her  emotion — but  this  noble  woman  won 
her  cause.  Her  application  for  the  trial  of  her  husband  by  a 
jury  was  granted,  and  the  court  immediately  adjourned.  The 
record  shows  it,  and  the  adjourning  order  is  signed  by  Andrew 
Greer,  James  Stewart,  Charles  Roberson,  Charles  Allison, 
Thomas  Houghton  and  John  McNab,  four  of  whom  at  least  had 
participated  in  the  capture  of  Thomas  Barker  at  King's  Mountain, 
and  had  afterward  been  present  at  his  trial  by  court  martial. 

This  heroine,  in  the  wilds  of  the  western  world,  had  un- 
doubtedly quoted  from  the  Declaration  of  Independence  the 
charge  against  Great-  Britain  ' '  for  depriving  us  in  many  cases 
of  the  benefits  of  trial  by  jury,"  and  had  also  probably  sug- 
gested to  the  mind  of  the  court,  for  the  first  time,  the  question 
as  to  whether  treason  could  be  committed  against  a  government 
by  a  person  who  had  never  acknowledged  allegiance  to  it. 

The  order  granting  Barker  a  trial  by  jury,  unlike  other  orders 
of  this  court,  is  not  clear.  It  bears  on  its  face  evidence  of 
confusion  in  the  court;  and  this,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
fact  that  the  court  adjourned  immediately  after  granting  the 
order,  renders  it  certain  that  this  wonderful  woman  was,  for 
the  time  being,  in  absolute  control  of  this  marvellous  court. 

Did  she  try  to  secure  the  services  of  a  lawyer  and  fail?  I 
do  not  know ;  but  I  do  know  that  these  old  records  fail  to  dis- 
close the  presence  of  an  attorney  as  counsel  for  a  single  one  of 
the  various  defendants  who  were  tried  by  the  court  on  a  charge 


68  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

of  treason.  There  were  at  this  time,  according  to  the  old 
records,  about  six  attorneys  practising  regularly  in  the  court, 
and  the  records  recite  their  presence  as  counsel  in  other  cases 
at  that  and  other  courts.  Were  these  attorneys  too  patriotic 
to  appear  in  these  cases,  or  too  timid  from  a  personal  or  busi- 
ness standpoint? 

The  court  afterward  relented,  and  Barker  was  released  on 
his  own  recognizance,  and  never  tried.  Ruined  in  fortune, 
ostracized  by  friends,  broken  in  spirit  and  in  health,  he  could 
not  endure  his  changed  condition  in  life.  He  died  soon  after 
his  release  from  prison,  and  the  brave,  faithful,  noble  but 
broken-hearted  wife  speedily  followed  her  husband  to  the  grave, 
leaving  two  or  three  children,  the  oldest  a  boy  of  some  five  or 
six  years.  They  were  taken  by  a  gentleman  and  his  wife  who 
had  no  children,  but  a  brother  of  either  Barker  or  his  wife 
soon  came  and  removed  them  from  scenes  and  faces  that  it  was 
well  for  them  to  forget  forever. 

The  little  graveyai'd  in  which  this  brave  man  and  his  noble 
wife  were  buried  was  remembered  by  old  people  in  Washington 
and  Sullivan  counties  as  late  as  thirty  years  ago.  When  I  first 
saw  and  knew  this  graveyard  as  the  one  in  which  they  were 
buried,  it  looked  much  like  a  thicket  fenced  in,  but  the  old 
crooked  rail  fence  around  it  was  fast  rotting  down.  There 
were  some  large  trees  in  it,  the  largest  a  wild  cherry.  Later, 
the  fence  was  entirely  gone,  as  well  as  most  of  the  trees,  and 
cattle  were  lying  on  the  graves  in  the  shade  of  the  trees.  Still 
later,  the  trees  were  all  gone  save  the  lone  wild  cherry,  and 
there  was  not  a  stone  or  a  mound  left:  the  owner  of  the  land 
was  plowing  over  the  dust  of  the  dead. 

The  world's  heroes  are  not  those  only  who  talk  face  to  face 
with  death  at  the  cannon's  mouth,  and  wet  battle-fields  with 
their  crimson  life-tide. 


CHAPTER  V. 

EARLY  TENNESSEE  LEGISLATION. 

THE  first  legislative  act  passed  in  what  is  now  the  state 
of  Tennessee  was  an  ''Ordinance  of  the  Governor  and 
Judges  of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  of  America 
South  of  the  River  Ohio,  for  circumscribing  the  counties  of 
Greene  and  Hawkins,  and  lading  out  two  new  counties,  Jeffer- 
son and  Knox."  This  act  was  passed  June  11,  1792,  and  de- 
scribes with  minute  particularity  that  part  of  the  boundaries  of 
the  old  counties  affected  by  it,  as  well  as  those  of  the  new 
counties  created.  The  act  appoints  Charles  McClung  and 
James  Maberry  to  run  and  mark  certain  parts  of  the  lines,  and 
Alexander  Outlaw  and  Joseph  Hamilton  to  run  and  mark  the 
other  parts.  It  also  directs  that  the  Courts  of  Pleas  and 
Quarter  Sessions  for  Knox  county  be  held  at  Knoxville,  for  the 
ensuing  Near,  on  the  third  Mondays  of  January,  April,  July 
and  October,  and  for  Jefferson  county  at  the  house  of  Jeremiah 
Matthews,  on  the  fourth  Monda3's  of  the  same  months,  -'for 
the  administration  of  justice." 

The  second  ordinance  passed  by  the  same  authority  is  one 
the  example  of  which  it  were  well  we  had  followed,  but,  alas! 
we  have  not.  This  ordinance,  in  a  preamble,  recites  that, 
"whereas,  doul)ts  have  arisen  whether  the  several  Courts  of 
Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions  in  this  Teri'itory  have  by  the  laws 
of  North  Carolina  authority  to  levy  taxes  for  building  or  re- 
pairing court  houses,  prisons  and  stocks  in  the  said  counties 
respectively,  pay  jurors  and  defray  contingent  expenses ;  and 
whei'eas,  it  is  necessary  that  these  doubts  shall  no  longer  exist"; 
and  then  proceeds  to  authorize  and  erapoAver  the  courts  to  levy 


70  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

and  collect  a  tax  for  the  purposes  named — not  to  issue  bonds, 
and  entail  their  payment,  with  interest,  upon  future  generations. 

The  ordinance  provides  that  the  tax  so  levied  and  collected 
by  the  several  counties  shall  not  exceed,  in  any  one  year,  more 
than  fifty  cents  on  each  poll,  nor  more  than  seventeen  cents  on 
each  hundred  acres  of  land. 

Wise  legislators  were  William  Blount,  David  Campbell  and 
Joseph  Anderson,  who  constituted  the  legislative  authority. 
Their  example  was  followed,  after  Tennessee  was  admitted  into 
the  Union,  by  the  general  assemblies  elected  by  the  people,  for 
a  very  long  period,  so  that,  whenever  money  was  appropriated 
or  a  county  authorized  to  make  any  expenditures,  the  same  act 
required  the  county  authorities  to  levy  a  tax,  collect  it  and 
pay  up,  instead  of  piling  up  debt.  Those  who  wish  to  know 
how  it  was  that  Tennessee  made  such  rapid  strides  in  the  pro- 
duction of  statesmen,  the  building  up  of  a  name,  the  develop- 
ment of  her  natural  resources,  and  advancement  in  education 
and  the  very  highest  order  of  civilization,  for  the  first  half  cen- 
tury of  her  existence,  have  but  to  study  the  legislative  history 
of  that  period. 

' '  The  Governor,  Legislative  Council  and  House  of  Represent- 
atives of  the  Territory  of  the  United  States  of  America  South 
of  the  river  Ohio"  passed  an  act,  September  30,  1794,  entitled 
"An  Act  for  the  relief  of  such  persons  as  have  been  disabled 
by  wounds,  or  rendered  incapable  of  procuring  for  themselves 
and  families  subsistence  in  the  military  service  of  the  territory, 
and  providing  for  the  widows  and  orphans  of  such  as  have  died. " 

The  act  provides  that  persons  of  the  description  mentioned 
in  the  caption  must  apply  to  and  establish  their  right  to  an  al- 
lowance, under  the  act,  before  the  county  court ;  that  the  county 
court  shall  make  an  allowance  "adequate  to  their  relief  for  one 
vear — which  allowance  shall  be  continued  for  the  succeeding 


Early  Tennessee  Legislation.  71 

year  and  so  long  as  such  court  shall  certify  such  person  to  con- 
tinue under  the  description  aforesaid  " ;  that  when  such  certifi- 
cate was  ' '  countersigned  by  the  Governor  and  President  of  the 
Council  and  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  together 
with  their  order  or  certificate  for  the  said  allowance,  it  shall  be 
a  sufficient  voucher  to  any  sheriflf,  collector  or  treasurer  paying 
the  same,  in  the  settlement  of  their  public  accounts. " 

On  August  26,  1776,  Congress  promised,  by  a  resolution,  to 
the  officers  and  soldiers  of  the  army  and  navy  who  might  be 
disabled  in  the  service,  a  pension,  to  continue  during  the  con- 
tinuance of  their  disabilities. 

On  June  7,  1785,  Congress  recommended  that  the  several 
states  should  make  provision  for  the  army,  navy  and  militia 
pensioners  resident  with  them,  to  be  reimbursed  by  Congress. 

On  September  29,  1789,  an  act  was  passed  providing  that 
the  military  pensions  which  had  been  granted  and  paid  by  the 
states,  respectively,  in  pursuance  with  the  foregoing  acts  to 
invalids  who  were  wounded  and  disabled  during  the  late  war, 
should  be  paid  by  the  United  States  from  the  fourth  day  of 
March,  1789,  for  the  space  of  one  year. 

The  act  of  March  26,  1790,  appropriated  the  sum  of  $96,- 
979.72  for  paying  pensions  which  may  become  due  to  the  in- 
valids. 

The  act  of  April  30,  1790,  provides  for  one-half  pay  pen- 
sions to  soldiers  of  the  regular  armj^  disabled  while  in  line  of 
duty;  and  the  act  of  July  16,  1790,  provides  that  the  military 
pensions  which  have  been  granted  and  paid  by  the  states  re- 
spectively shall  be  continued  and  paid  by  the  United  States 
from  the  fourth  day  of  March,  1790,  for  the  space  of  one  year. 

There  were  several  other  similar  acts  providing  for  the  yearly 
payment  of  pensions,  but  the  first  general  act  which  made  a 
regular  provision  for  the  pensioning  of  commissioned  and  non- 


72  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History, 

commissioned  offlcera,  musicians,  soldiers,  marines  and  seamen, 
disabled  in  the  actual  service  of  the  United  States,  and  in  line 
of  duty,  by  known  wounds  received  during  the  Revolutionary 
war,  was  the  act  approved  on  March  10,  1806,  which  provided 
by  its  terms  that  it  should  remain  in  force  for  and  during  the 
space  of  six  years  from  the  passage  thereof,  and  no  longer ;  but 
it  was  subsequently  revived  and  kept  in  force  by  the  acts  of 
April  25,  1812,  May  15,  1820,  February  4,  1822,  and  May  24, 
1828. 

And  so  it  appears,  that  the  '  *  Governor,  Legislative  Council 
and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Territory  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  south  of  the  river  Ohio,"  passed  an  act 
unconditionallj-  and  permanently  pensioning  disabled  soldiers 
and  militiamen,  and  the  widows  and  orphans  of  such  as  had 
died  from  wounds,  twelve  years  before  such  an  act  was  passed 
by  the  Congress  of  the  United  States. 

It  would  not  be  in  keeping  with  the  main  purpose  of  this 
modest  effort  to  catch  up  and  put  together  in  their  proper 
places  some  dropped  stitches  in  Tennessee  history,  to  go  into 
an  examination  in  detail  of  the  various  acts  passed  by  the  legis- 
lative authority  of  the  territorial  government  and  by  the  earliest 
sessions  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  state.  Believing,  how- 
ever, that  it  may  be  profitable,  at  this  time,  to  bring  into  public 
view  some  of  the  great  doctrines,  principles  and  policies  that 
seem  to  have  guided  our  early  legislators,  as  gathered  from 
what  they  did,  they  will  be  briefly  mentioned,  with  date,  sub- 
stance, objects,  etc. 

The  first  of  the  policies  indicated  was  that  counties  and  mu- 
nicipalities should  not  contract  interest-bearing  debts  and  post- 
pone their  payment  for  a  long  period  of  years.  This  policy 
was  fixed  and  not  deviated  from;  for  in  everj'  act  which  au- 
thorized a  county  or  municipality  to   expend  money  for  the 


Early  Tennessee  Legislation.  73 

erection  of  public  buildings  of  any  kind,  or  for  amy  other  pur- 
pose, such  county  or  municipality  was  also  required  to  levy  a 
tax  to  paj'  for  it ;  and,  to  prevent  extravagance  or  the  erection 
of  a  building  or  buildings  for  public  uses  not  required,  the  act 
fixed  a  limit  in  excess  of  which  tax  should  not  be  levied  or  col- 
lected. Was  this  because  they  were  wiser  than  we  are?  No. 
The}'  read  the  constitution,  took  an  oath  to  support  it,  and 
found  that  it  said,  as  it  does  now,  that  ' '  the  general  assembly 
shall  have  power  to  authorize  the  several  counties  and  incorpo- 
rated towns  in  this  state  to  impose  taxes  for  county  and  corpo- 
ration purposes  respectively " ;  and  they  had  not  then  become 
wise  enough  to  construe  the  true  meaning  out  of  this  provision, 
and  make  it  mean  that  the  general  assembly  shall  have  power 
to  authorize  counties  and  incorporated  towns  to  borrow  money 
and  issue  promises  and  obligations  to  pay  it  ten,  twenty  or 
thirt}'  years  after  date,  with  interest  paj^able  semi-annually. 
If  some  holder  of  such  promises  to  pay,  or  of  bonds  issued  by 
a  county  or  an  incorporated  town  or  city,  should  be  called  upon 
to  point  out  that  provision  in  our  constitution  which  gives  power 
to  the  general  assembly  to  authorize  a  county  or  municipality 
to  enter  into  and  deliver  such  obligations,  what  section,  clause, 
line  or  word  could  be  found  to  make  such  bonds  legal,  valid 
and  binding? 

They  had  the  "fee  question,"  the  "  school  question,"  public 
roads,  the  regulation  of  private  corporations,  the  "gold"  or 
"specie  contract"  question,  all  to  deal  with;  and  they  dealt 
with  all  of  them  prior  and  up  to  the  year  1801,  taking  hold  of 
and  settling  these  complicated,  vexatious  problems  in  a  cour- 
ageous and  statesmanlike  way. 

The  fee  act,  passed  in  April,  1796,  not  only  regulated  the 
compensation  of  public  officers,  but  fixed  the  fees  of  attorne3-s 
in  civil  suits,  from  ' '  twelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents  in  any  suit 


74  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History 

in  equity,"  down  to  '*one  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  in  any 

appeal  from  the  judgment  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  to  the 

county  courts."     The  fees  allowed  attorneys  were  specified  in 

each  character  of  the  various  suits,  the  greatest  sum  allowed 

being  twelve  dollars  and  fifty  cents. 

Two  acts,  however,  ought  to  have  special  prominence  given  to 

them  in  Tennessee  at  this  particular  time  (March,  1897).    One  of 

these,  bearing  on  the  subject  of  "gold  "  or  "specie  contracts," 

with  the  cunning  methods  used  to  ultimately  accomplish  the 

repeal  of  the  most  important  section  in  it,  is  here  given  in  full : 

An  act  respecting  dollars  and  cents,  and  contracts,  and  the  man- 
ner of  keeping  accounts,  so  far  as  respects  the  currency  in  which 
contracts  shall  be  made  and  accounts  kept.  Passed  January 
5th,  1799. 

Sec  1 .  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State 
of  Tennessee,  That  all  judgments  and  verdicts  in  courts  of 
record,  and  by  justices  of  peace  out  of  court,  shall  be  rendered 
in  dollars  and  cents,  or  such  parts  thereof  as  the  nature  of  the 
case  may  require;  and  all  executions  thereon  and  all  bills  of 
costs  shall  issue  accordingly. 

Sec.  2.  Be  it  enacted,  That  from  and  after  the  first  day  of 
January,  One  thousand  eight  hundred,  all  accounts  shall  be 
kept,  and  contracts  made  where  money  is  stipulated  for,  in 
dollars  and  cents,  or  such  parts  thereof  as  the  nature  of  the 
case  may  require ;  and  all  accounts  kept  or  contracts  entered 
into,  where  money  is  stipulated  for,  other  than  is  by  this  act 
directed,  shall  be  void  and  not  recoverable  by  law. 

By  an  act  passed  October  23,  1799,  the  second  section  of 
the  foregoing  act  was  suspended  ' '  until  the  next  stated  Gen- 
eral Assembly."  At  the  next  general  assembly,  November  10, 
1801,  this  second  section  was  again  suspended  "  until  the  next 
stated  General  Assembly."  At  the  next  succeeding  general 
assembly,  October  25,  1803,  the  following  act  was  passed: 

Chap.  60.  An  Act  to  repeal  part  [italics  mine]  of  the  second  section 
of  an  Act  entitled  An  Act  respecting  dollars  and  cents,  con- 
tracts and  the  manner  of  keeping  accounts,  passed  January  the 
fifth,  1799. 

1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of 
Tennessee,  That  so  much  of  the  second  section  of  the  above 


Early  Tennessee  Legislation.  75 

recited  Act  that  requires  all  accounts  kept  or  contracts  entered 
into,  where  monej'  is  stipulated  for,  other  than  are  by  said  Act 
directed,  shall  be  void  and  not  recoverable  bj'  law,  is  hereby 
repealed,  any  law  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding,  excejit  as 
respects  accounts  kept  by  merchants^  physicians  and  innkeepers 
[italics  mine]. 

2.  Be  it  enacted ^  That  this  Act  shall  be  in  force  after  the 
first  day  of  September  next. 

October  3,  1805,  another  act,  of  one  section  only,  was 
passed,  as  follows: 

An  Act  to  repeal  the  second  section  of  an  Act  respecting  dollars 
and  cents,  accounts,  contracts,  &c. 

Be  it  enacted^  That  the  second  section  of  the  before  recited 
Act,  passed  on  the  fifth  day  of  January,  in  the  Year  of  Our 
Lord  One  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty-nine,  be  and 
the  same  is  hereby  repealed,  anything  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing. 

The  original  act  passed  in  January,  1799,  was  intended  to 
remedy  two  evils.  The  first,  but  not  the  chief  one,  was  to  put 
a  stop  to  the  keeping  of  accounts,  the  taking  of  notes  or  the 
making  of  any  kind  of  contract  where  payment  in  money  was 
stipulated  for,  in  pounds,  shillings  and  pence,  and  to  compel 
the  use  in  all  such  obligations  of  the  terms  dollars  and  cents; 
and  to  more  effectually  enforce  this,  the  act  pi"ohibited  courts 
from  rendering  judgments,  making  out  bills  of  costs  or  issuing 
executions  for  anything  but  dollars  and  cents.  The  second 
evil  the  act,  in  its  original  form  and  provisions,  had  forever 
cut  up  by  the  roots  was  the  '*  specie"  account  or  contract — that 
is  to  say,  the  shrewd  keepers  of  accounts  and  money-lenders 
would  embody  in  the  account,  note  or  other  obligation,  where 
money  was  stipulated  for,  the  term  "specie."  If  it  was  an 
account,  it  would  be  opened  something  like  this:  "Spruce 
McCay,  in  account  with  Ephraim  Dunlap — specie";  or  if  a 
note,  due-bill  or  other  obligation,  the  term  ' '  specie  "  usually 


76  Propped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

followed  the  "promise  to  pay  "  or  the  statement  of  the  amount 
conti'acted  to  be  paid  or  acknowledged  to  be  due. 

To  the  close  student  of  the  methods  which  are  usually  em- 
ployed by  the  artful  and  designing,  these  several  acts  are 
amusing — first  suspending  a  particular  section,  then  suspend- 
ing it  again,  then  repealing  part  of  it,  and  finally  accomplish- 
ing the  repeal  of  the  whole  section.  Now,  note.  The  first 
repealing  act  excepted  from  its  provisions  * '  merchants,  phj'si- 
cians  and  inn-keepers";  that  is,  the  repealing  act  was  so  art- 
fully worded  as  to  leave  the  original  act  in  full  force  against 
the  three  classes  mentioned — about  the  only  people  who  trans- 
acted any  business  of  consequence  and  who  required  payment 
in  money  at  that  time.  These  could  not  make  any  contract, 
or  keep  an  account,  for  payment  in  "specie" — they  must  ac- 
cept payment  in  the  currency  of  the  times.  The  system  of 
barter,  at  this  period,  between  the  agricultural  class  and  the 
blacksmith,  cooper,  wagonmaker,  shoemaker,  etc.,  was  such 
that  accounts  between  them  were  so  kept  as  to  be  payable  in 
the  products  of  each,  and  not  in  money — no  money  ever  being 
passed  between  them  or  expected.  Thus,  this  first  repealing 
act,  stripped  of  the  film  that  shrouded  it,  simply  left  the  origi- 
nal act  in  full  force  against  everybody  that  it  could  have  affected, 
except  one  poor  fellow — or  one  class  of  poor  fellows — the  man 
or  men  who  had  a  little  bit  of  money  to  loan  on  a  note  with 
"undoubted  personal  security"  or  secured  bj"  mortgage. 

This  first  repealing  act  was  "class  legislation"  so  rank  and 
rotten  that  the  poor  fellows  who  had  money  to  loan — and  who 
had  it  passed — became,  no  doubt,  exceedingly  solicitous  for  the 
well-being,  prosperity  and  " business  interests "  of  the  "mer- 
chants, physicians  and  inn-keepers  "  and  therefore  came  for- 
ward at  the  next  meeting  of  the  general  assembly,  in  1805, 
with  an  act  repealing  the  whole  of  the  second  section  of  the 


Early  Tennessee  Legislation.  77 

original  act ;  and  then  they  breathed  easy  and  praised  the  Lord 
because  they  had  entirely  relieved  the  ' '  merchants,  physicians 
and  inn-keepers"  of  this  odious  act,  which  had  for  its  object  the 
prevention  of  requiring  payment  in  "specie"  where  monej- 
should  be  stipulated  for. 

This  last  full  and  final  repealing  act  deserves  to  be  further 
noted,  and  to  be  remembered  with  reverence — so  to  speak — for 
the  reason  that  it  is  the  first  act  passed  in  Tennessee  in  which 
the  term  "in  the  5'ear  of  our  Lord"  is  used.  What  an  intel- 
lectual treat  it  must  have  been  to  hear  the  man  (not  the  mem- 
ber of  the  general  assembly)  who  prepared  this  last  repealing 
act,  explaining  its  provisions  to  the  members  of  the  general 
assembly,  and  pointing  out  to  them  the  great  benefits  that  were 
to  accrue  to  the  "  merchants,  physicians  and  inn-keepers"  of 
the  country  by  its  passage ;  and  also  to  note  with  what  rever- 
ential humility  he  bowed  his  head,  and  with  what  unction  he 
read.  "  'in  the  year  of  our  Lord,'  who  has  put  it  into  my  mind 
and  heart  to  prepare  this  great  measure  and  ask  you  to  pass 
it";  and  (aside)  "has  also  made  me  a  shining  light  in  the 
church  and  the  community  " — while,  all  the  time  and  ever}'  min- 
ute, his  greedy,  covetous  little  soul  was  becoming  more  con- 
tracted, and  visions  of  dollars  or  pounds  in  "  specie "  were 
blinding  him  to  the  gi'eat  truth  that  it  would  be  easier  for  a 
camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle  than  for  such  as  he 
ever  to  enter  the  domain  of  "our  Lord,"  where  "specie"  is 
used  only  to  pave  streets. 

The  county  court  records  at  Jonesboro  show  that,  early  in 
the  nineties  of  the  last  century,  slave-holders  were  emancipating 
their  slaves. 

On  October  2,  1797,  an  Act  was  passed  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  Tennessee  entitled,  "An  Act  to  confirm  the  eman- 
cipation of  a  black  man  named  Jack. "     The  preamble  recites 


78  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

that,  "Whereas  at  July  sessions  One  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  ninety  seven,  John  Stone,  of  Knoxville,  in  the  State  of 
Tennessee  did  apply  to  the  County  Court  of  Knox,  for  a  license 
to  emancipate,  and  forever  set  free  a  certain  negro  man  slave, 
named  Jack,"  etc.,  "which  license  hath  issued  to  said  John 
Stone,  and  whereas  the  said  John  Stone,  on  the  thirty-first  day 
of  August  1797  .  .  .  did  emancipate,  discharge  and  for- 
ever set  free  from  all  manner  of  servitude  and  slavery  what- 
ever, the  said  negro  Jack. "  The  Act  then  confirms  the  eman- 
cipation, and  confers  upon  the  liberated  slave  "the  name  of 
John  Saunders." 

On  November  13,  1801,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an 
act,  entitled  '  'An  Act  empowering  the  county  courts  to  eman- 
cipate slaves,"  the  preamble  of  which  recites  that,  "Whereas 
the  number  of  petitions  presented  to  this  legislature,  praying 
the  emancipation  of  slaves,  not  only  tend  to  involve  the  state 
in  serious  evils,  but  are  also  productive  of  great  expense.  For 
remedy  whereof.  Be  it  enacted, "  &c.  The  act  then  proceeds 
to  confer  power  and  authority  upon  the  county  courts  generally 
to  emancipate  slaves  upon  the  petition  and  request  of  the 
owners,  and  directs  the  clerks  of  such  courts  to  record  such 
proceedings  and  make  out  and  issue  to  the  emancipated  slaves 
a  certificate  of  emancipation.  These  old  records  will  explain 
why  it  was  that,  twenty  and  twenty-five  years  later,  the  "Man- 
umission Intelligencer"  and  "The  Emancipator"  were  pub- 
lished at  Jonesboro  and  the  < '  Genius  of  Universal  Emancipa- 
tion" at  Greeneville.  They  show  another  fact,  viz.,  that  long 
before  Elihu  Embree,  *  Benjamin  Lundy,  William  L.  Garrison 

♦Thomas  Jefferson  Wilion,  an  agod,  intelligent  and  respected  citizen,  now 
nearly  blind,  living  at  Chesterton,  in  Washington  county,  Tenn.,  writing  to  me, 
April  1,  1897,  among  other  things,  says:  "  In  the  spring  of  1833SI  went  to  live  with 
Elijah  Embree  [brother  of  Elihu],  and  continued  to  reside  with  him  until  his  death, 
in  1846.  During  this  time  I  had  access  to  all  his  books  and  papers,  and  1  found  a 
copy  of  '  The  Emancipator.'    I  hunted  up  all  of  the  numbers  that  had  been  issued, 


LIMKSTONK  HOUSK.  1780. 
Honii'of  Kliliu  Kinbrfc.  th<'  foiindiT  and  editor  of  the  first  iibolition  paptT  publislu'd  in  the 
I'liitcd  States.     Kn-cit-d  by  his  brother,  Thomas  Einbrof.  about  five  miles  west  of  Jones- 
iMiro.  now  near  Teiford's  Station,  on  Soutliern   Railway.     From  a   photograph  taken   in 

April,  1897. 


Early  Tennessee  Legislation.  79 

and  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  began  the  agitation  of  the  abolition 
of  slavery — in  theory — in  the  public  press,  these  people  were 
not  only  thinking,  but  acting,  on  the  subject — the  great  ques- 
tion that  ultimately  shook  the  pillars  of  the  American  repub- 
lic, and  earthquaked  a  continent  when  the  sjiock  of  war  came — 
these  people  were  not  only  teaching  but  practising  emancipa- 
tion. It  would  not  only  be  unpatriotic,  but  filial  impiety  in  the 
descendants  of  those  people,  to  allow  without  protest  their  fame 
to  diminish,  and  their  views,  deeds  and  accomplishments  to  be 
taken  from  them  and  credited  to  others. 

It  must  not  be.  It  was  easy  indeed,  for  Embree,  Lundy  and 
others  to  drop  in,  twenty  to  twenty-five  years  later,  and  join 
them  in  the  advocac}^  of  the  policy  of  emancipating  slaves,  when 
they  found,  or  had  heard  before  coming  to  the  country,  that 
manumission  societies  had  been  in  existence  for  near  a  quarter 
of  a  century  before,  and  when  the  county  court  records  dis- 
closed the  fact  that  these  people  were  practising  what  they  ad- 
vocated, and  when  petitions  to  the  general  assembly  of  the 
state  from  the  various  counties  ' '  praying  the  emancipation  of 
slaves"  were  so  numerous  that  they  were  about  to  involve  the 
state  in  serious  evils  by  turning  irresponsible  persons  loose  upon 
society  and  also  entailing  great  expense. 

The  reader,  must  not  however,  confuse  the  policy  advocated 
and  practised  by  those  people  of  emancipation  or  of  manumit- 
ting their  slaves,  with  the  doctrine  of  forcible  abolition,  or  of 

and  had  James  Dihvorth  of  .Tonesboro  to  bind  them  in  book  form.  Elihu  Embree 
claimed  [in  '  The  Emancipator ']  that  his  paper  was  the  first  paper  ever  published  In 
the  United  States  wholly  in  the  interest  of  emancipation.  It  was  a  monthly  paper, 
and  the  first  number  was  published  in  1820,  during  which  year  Embree  died,  and  the 
paper  ceased.  The  first  movement  that  I  know  of  in  Tennessee  in  the  interest  of 
emancipation  was  among  the  Quakers.  They  organized  a  society  on  Lost  Creek,  in 
Jeflferson  county,  from  which  sprang  many  similar  societies  all  over  East  Tennessee. 
Charles  Owens,  Benjamin  Lundj'  and  a  great  many  others  who  were  emancipation- 
ists moved  [from  Eastern  Tennessee]  to  Ohio  between  1815  and  1820." 

With  reference  to  this  subject  of  the  first  abolition  paper,  see  an  interesting 
note  on  Elihu  Embree,  in  the  interpretation  of  the  "Centennial  Dream,"  in  the 
appendix  to  this  volume. 


80  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

freeing  slaves  by  legislative  enactment,  without  the  consent  of 
the  owner.  Petitions,  with  nearly  two  thousand  signers  or 
names  to  them,  coming  from  all  settlements  in  the  state  (terri- 
tory) were  presented  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  in  1796, 
asking  that  a  provision  be  embodied  in  the  constitution  prohib- 
iting slavery  in  the  state  after  the  year  1864.  This  was  the 
voice  of  prophecy  coming  up  out  of  the  Western  Wilderness. 

True  philanthrophy  liberates  its  own  slaves,  and  not  other 
people's  without  their  consent. 

The  first  private  corporation  chartered  by  the  general  assem- 
bly of  Tennessee  was  the  "Nolichucky  River  Company,"  No- 
vember 10,  1801,  Its  objects  are  briefly  stated  to  be  "to  clear 
out  and  remove  from  the  bed  or  channel  of  so  much  of  the 
river  Nolichucky  as  shall  be  within  the  limits  of  Washington, 
Greene  and  Jefferson  counties,  all  and  every  obstruction  which 
in  any  way  impede  or  hinder  the  navigation  of  the  same. "  The 
tenth  section  of  the  act  is  as  follows : 

JBe  it  enacted.  That  three  custom  houses  be  established  on 
said  river,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  toll,  in  such  places  as 
the  said  Nolichucky  River  Company  may  think  expedient;  and 
any  boat,  craft  or  other  vessel,  entering  in  above  the  upper  cus- 
tom house  shall  pay  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar  per  ton ;  any  boat, 
craft  or  other  vessel,  entering  between  the  upper  custom  house 
and  the  second  below,  shall  pay  at  the  rate  of  seventy-five  cents 
per  ton ;  and  any  boat,  craft  or  other  vessel,  entering  in  be- 
tween the  second  custom  house  and  the  third,  shall  pay  at  the 
rate  of  fifty  cents  per  ton. 

It  is  worth  the  time  of  the  curious  to  read  the  whole  of  this 
act,  as  it  is  not  probable  that  another  like  it  can  be  found  in 
the  statute  law  of  any  other  state. 

Another  act  deserving  our  attention  is  one  passed  by  the 
third  general  assembly,  creating  the  second  private  corpora- 
tion chartered  in  Tennessee.  What  a  model  it  was  and  is  for 
the  guidance  of  all  future  general  assemblies,  and  how  free  we 


Early  Tennessee  Legislation.  81 

would  be  today  fcom  the  manj-  questions  that  now  vex  courts 
and  legislative  bodies,  if  we  had  only  followed  this  wise  prece- 
dent. But  we  have  not;  our  "swollen  estimate  of  our  own 
pre-eminence  "  seems  to  have  so  beclouded  our  minds  as  to  cut 
off  vision  in  both  directions :  too  proud  and  stiff-necked  to  look 
back  and  study  the  example  and  teachings  of  our  fathers,  and 
too  weak-minded,  with  all  our  boasting,  to  see  a  single  span  of 
life  into  the  future,  we  have  lost  that  which  they,  in  their  far- 
reaching  mental  grasp,  held  on  to  in  the  charter — control  and 
regulation  of  private  corporations  by  means  of  commissions 
appointed  by  state  authority  and  compensated  by  the  corpora- 
tion, these  provisions  being  part  and  parcel  of  the  charter. 
The  act  referred  to  was  passed  November  14,  1801,  and  incor- 
porated the  Cumberland  Turnpike  Company — nothing  but  a 
little  turnpike  company,  to  build  a  road  or  public  highway 
' '  from  the  district  of  Hamilton,  across  the  Cumberland  moun- 
tains to  the  district  of  Mero":  but  these  backwoods  pioneers, 
who  (as  we,  their  offspring,  have  supposed)  did  not  know  how 
to  spell  '-railroad,"  "commission,"  "regulation,"  "freight," 
etc.,  actually  had  sense  and  foresight  enough,  without  books 
and  court  decisions  bearing  on  the  subject  to  guide  them,  to 
embody  in  this  second  charter  of  a  private  corporation  granted 
in  Tennessee  provisions  as  follows: 

1.  It  might  make  by-laws,  rules  and  regulations  not  incon- 
sistent with  the  laws  of  the  state. 

2.  It  must  ' '  measure  and  mile-mark  "  the  whole  road,  ' '  erect 
bridges  and  causeys"  (causewaj's?),  dig  and  level  fields,  hills 
and  mountains  to  the  width  of  fifteen  feet,  and  maintain  and 
keep  the  road  in  good  order  and  repair. 

3.  The  life  of  the  franchise  is  limited  to  a  period  of  ten 
years. 

4.  The  corporation  is  required  to  execute  a  bond,  in  the  sum 
6 


82  Droppkd  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

of  two  thousand  dollars,  with  approved  security,  for  keeping 
the  road  in  safe  condition  and  good  repair. 

5.  The  Governor  shall  appoint  three  commissioners,  and  they 
or  either  of  them  shall  review  and  examine  the  condition  of  the 
road  once  in  six  months,  and  report  its  condition  to  the  Gov- 
ernor. 

6.  The  company,  on  the  completion  of  the  road,  is  required 
to  report  to  the  Governor  that  the  road  has  been  completed  in 
accordance  with  the  charter  requirements. 

7.  Thereupon,  the  commissioners  are  to  view  and  examine 
the  road,  and  if  they  report  to  the  Governor  that  the  road  has 
been  completed  in  accordance  with  the  true  intent  and  meaning 
of  the  charter,  the  Governor  will  then  issue  a  license  to  the 
company,  permitting  it  to  erect  gates  and  collect  toll. 

8.  The  toll  that  shall  be  demanded  and  received  from  the 
various  kinds  of  vehicles,  live  stock,  footmen,  etc. ,  is  prescribed 
by  the  charter. 

9.  It  provides  that,  if  any  person  shall  sustain  any  damage 
on  account  of  being  detained  by  the  keepers  of  said  turnpikes, 
or  on  account  of  the  road  being  out  of  repair,  such  person  shall 
have  an  action  against  the  company  for  the  damages  sustained. 

10.  It  fixes  the  compensation  of  the  commissioners  at  two 
dollars  per  day  while  necessarily  emploj'ed,  which  shall  be  paid 
by  the  corporation. 

11.  It  requires  the  road  to  be  completed  on  or  before  the 
first  day  of  September,  1802,  in  default  of  which  all  rights 
granted  by  the  ch^ter  are  forfeited. 

This  charter  takes  up  one  page  and  two-thirds  of  another 
page  of  the  acts,  as  published,  and  is  embodied,  caption  and 
all,  in  eighty-one  printed  lines;  and  yet  almost  every  conceiv- 
able phase  of  the  questions  which  have  arisen  between  the  peo- 
ple and  such  corporations,  to  annoy  both  and  vex  courts  and 


Early  Tennessee  Legislation.  83 

general  assemblies,  are  fully  covered  in  this  short  charter,  either 
in  specific  words,  terms  and  provisions,  or  in  the  true  intent 
and  meaning  of  the  whole. 

Some  features  of  this  charter  deserve  more  than  a  passing 
notice.  «One,  which  limited  the  life  of  the  corporation  to  ten 
years,  is  in  keeping  with  and  conformity  to  the  great  doctrine 
announced  in  the  twenty-third  paragraph  of  the  ' '  declaration 
of  rights"  appended  to  and  adopted  as  part  of  the  state  con- 
stitution in  1796,  that  "perpetuities  and  monopolies  are  con- 
trary to  the  genius  of  a  free  state,  and  shall  not  be  allowed": 
therefore  they  limited  the  life  of  this  "monopoly"  to  ten 
years.  As  private  citizens,  the  men  who  composed  the  general 
assembly  believed  in  this  doctrine ;  and,  as  representatives  of 
the  people,  they  stuck  to  it  with  a  firmness  and  manliness 
worthy  to  be  followed  by  all  future  legislative  bodies. 

Another  feature  of  this  second  charter,  which  should  have 
commended  it  as  a  model  in  form  and  substance  to  future  gen- 
eral assemblies,  is  the  retention  in  its  face  of  the  right  and 
power  of  the  state  to  regulate  and  control  the  road,  in  its  con- 
dition with  reference  to  the  safety  of  the  travelling  public,  and 
the  services  to  be  rendered  and  the  charges  to  be  made  therefor, 
as  well  as  to  require  the  corporation  to  pay  the  agents  of  the 
people,  who  were  to  supervise  and  regulate  it  in  these  partic- 
ulars. 

Here  again,  in  this  second  charter  of  a  private  corporation 
for  profit,  is  given  unmistakable  evidence  that  these  early  leg- 
islators believed  in  and  adhered  to  that  other  fundamental 
principle  proclaimed  in  the  "declaration  of  rights" — that  "all 
power  is  inherent  in  the  people,  and  all  free  governments  are 
founded  on  their  authority  and  instituted  for  their  peace,  safety 
and  happiness ;  for  the  advancement  of  those  ends,  they  have 
at  all  times  an  unalienable  and  indefeasible  right  to  alter,  re- 


84-  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History, 

form  or  abolish  the  government  in  such  manner  as  they  may 
think  proper."  They  had  probably  not  learned,  so  early,  that 
it  would  ever  be  insisted  by  anyone  that  the  government  could 
bring  into  existence  a  creature  greater  and  more  powerful  than 
the  creator;  but  fearing,  no  doubt,  that  such  a  claim  might  be 
set  up,  they  put  in  the  face  of  this  charter  an  answer  to  any 
such  pretence.  It  had  not  probably  been  intimated,  at  that 
early  day,  that  a  government  which  the  people,  in  the  exercise 
of  their  inherent  power,  could  alter,  reform  or  abolish  at  their 
pleasure,  could  nevertheless  by  its  legislature  bring  into  exist- 
ence an  invisible,  intangible,  incorporeal  entity  which  the  peo- 
ple could  neither  control  nor  destroy,  although  they  have  the 
power  to  do  both  with  reference  to  the  creator  of  such  entity; 
still,  they  said  in  the  charter  that  all  power  is  inherent  in  the 
people,  and  you  take  the  rights,  privileges  and  franchises 
granted,  subject  to  their  power  to  control  and  regulate  your 
operations,  and  your  dealings  with  and  relations  to  the  public. 
Two  other  features  of  this  charter  deserve  to  be  thoughtfully 
considered.  The  first  is  that  the  corporation  is  made  liable,  in 
the  face  of  its  charter,  for  damages  sustained  by  any  person 
who  shall  be  detained  by  the  keepers  of  the  turnpikes  or  the 
bad  condition  of  the  road.  Under  the  language  of  the  section, 
the  liability  is  fixed  and  absolute,  the  plaintiff  having  to  prove 
only  two  facts  in  any  case :  the  fact  that  he  was  detained,  and 
the  amount  of  damage  sustained — this  was  all;  he  did  not 
have  to  prove  negligence,  or  carelessness,  ordinary  or  gross. 
The  other  feature  is  that  which  required  the  corporation  to  give 
a  bond,  with  approved  security,  conditioned  for  keeping  the 
road  in  good  repair.  The  corporation  might  become  insolvent, 
go  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  come  out  again  under  a  new 
organization,  load  up  again  with  mortgages  first,  second  and 
third,  stock  itself  again  and  issue  first  and  second  preferred 


Eaely  Tennessee  Legislation.  85 

and  common,  and  then  collapse  again ;  but  the  bond  which  this 
charter  required  this  corporation  to  give,  and  the  security  thereon, 
could  not  be  cancelled,  or  touched  by  anyone  except  one  who 
had  sustained  damages  by  reason  of  being  detained  by  the 
keepers  of  the  gates  or  the  road  being  out  of  repair.  The  cor- 
poration might  dissolve,  become  bankrupt,  go  out  of  business 
— but  the  bond  and  security  remained. 

What  a  monument  is  this  charter,  gi"anted  to  a  private  cor- 
poration for  profit,  to  the  wisdom  and  far-reaching  foresight  of 
the  pioneer  statesmen  who  framed  and  granted  it;  and  how 
unfortunate  it  is,  for  both  the  people  and  for  the  corporations, 
that  subsequent  general  assemblies  in  Tennessee  have  not  en- 
grafted its  principles  upon  all  charters  since  granted  to  private 
corporations. 

"History  repeats  itself  "  only  when  and  where  human  nature 
parallels  itself:  have  legislative  statesmen  duplicated  themselves 
in  Tennessee? 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MI  BO,  ALIAS  "MERO.'' 

IN  November,  1784,  the  general  assembly  of  North  Carolina, 
at  Newbern,  divided  the  district  of  Morgan,  which  had 
theretofore  included  all  of  the  state  "west  of  the  mount- 
ains, "  and  erected  Washington,  Sullivan,  Greene  and  Davidson 
counties  into  a  "Superior  Court  of  Law  and  Equity"  district, 
by  the  name  of  "Washington."  From  1784  to  1788  all  of  the 
territory  west  of  the  Cumberland  mountains  was  included  in 
Davidson  and  Sumner  counties,  then  the  only  organized  counties 
in  what  is  now  Middle  and  West  Tennessee.  The  population 
of  Davidson  county  had  so  increased  and  extended  westward 
from  Nashville  by  the  fall  of  1788  that  the  general  assembly 
of  North  Carolina,  at  Fayetteville,  in  November  of  that  year, 
divided  Davidson  county  by  a  line  "beginning  on  the  Virginia 
line  now  Kentucky,  thence  south  along  Sumner  county  to  the 
dividing  ridge  between  Cumberland  river  and  Red  river,  thence 
westwardly  along  said  ridge  to  the  head  of  the  main  south 
branch  of  Sycamore  creek,  thence  down  the  said  branch  to  the 
mouth  thereof,  thence  due  south  across  Cumberland  river  to 
Davidson  county  line. "  All  that  part  of  Davidson  county  west 
of  this  line  was  erected  into  a  new  county,  which  was  named 
"Tennessee."  Tennessee  county,  therefore,  included  all  of 
the  ten-itory  now  within  the  limits  of  Montgomery,  Robertson, 
Dickson,  Houston  and  Stewart,  and  parts  of  Hickman,  Hum- 
phreys and  Cheatham.  The  county  seat  of  Tennessee  county 
was  fixed  at  Clarksville. 

By  another  act  of  the  general  assembly  of  North  Carolina,  at 
Fayetteville,   in  November,    1788,   the  counties  of  Davidson, 


MiRO,   ALIAS   "Mero."  87 

Sumner  and  Tennessee  were  erected  into  a  new  district  for  the 
holding  of  ' '  Superior  Courts  of  Law  and  Equity "  therein. 
When  this  act  forming  the  new  district  west  of  the  Cumberland 
mountains  was  on  its  third  and  final  reading,  the  Speaker  called 
on  the  author  of  the  bill  for  the  name  with  which  the  blank  left 
for  that  purpose  was  to  be  filled.  James  Robertson  and  Robert 
Hays  were  the  members  from  Davidson,  and  one  of  them  was 
the  author  of  the  bill  providing  for  the  new  district.  It  is  a 
matter  of  history  that,  in  answer  to  the  Speaker's  call  for  the 
name  of  the  new  district,  James  Robertson  arose  and  suggested 
"Mero."  He  evidently  gave  the  name  as  it  is  pronounced, 
without  spelling  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  clerk,  and  the  latter 
evidently  recorded  it  phoneticallj' ;  and  thus  the  name  of  the 
new  district  went  upon  the  oflacial  record  as  "Mero,"  which  is 
the  correct  pronunciation,  instead  of  ' '  Miro, "  which  is  the  cor- 
rect orthography.  The  error,  once  committed,  was  perpetu- 
ated ;  and  ' '  Mero  "  it  continued  to  be,  not  only  in  contemporary 
records  and  legal  documents,  but  in  subsequent  histories.  * 

The  name  as  suggested  by  Robertson  was  adopted  without 
open  objection.  It  is  probable  that  some  of  the  leading  spirits 
in  the  assembly  had  been  made  acquainted  with  the  motive 
which  prompted  the  selection  of  the  name,  while  others,  with- 
out any  knowledge,  opinion  or  preference,  simply  followed  the 
leaders  in  accepting  it.  There  were,  however,  some  members 
who  knew  some  things,  but  not  everything,  in  connection  with 
this  name ;  and,  on  reflection,  after  the  name  had  been  adopted, 
they  took  oflTence  at  the  selection,  and  it  was  discussed,  not  in 
the  general  assembly,  but  at  the  taverns  and  boarding-houses, 
with  spirit  and  much  feeling.  They  said  that  it  was  strange 
and  unexampled  that  the  name  of  an  officer  of  a  foreign  govern- 
ment, who  was  not  and  had  never  been  in  our  service,  should 

*  Haywood,  Ramsey,  Putn.am  iind  Phelan  unanimously  and  invariably  so  spell  it. 


88  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

be  given  to  a  political  division  of  our  country  and  perpetuated 
on  our  public  records.  They  wished  to  know  what  this  meant.  * 
They  knew,  they  said,  that  Don  Estevan  Miro  was  a  colonel  in 
the  Spanish  army,  that  he  was  also  "Governor  of  Orleans," 
and  they  had  heard  that  he  was  a  very  kind-hearted,  agreeable 
gentleman;  but  so  were  scores  of  other  foreigners,  not  to  men- 
tion the  names  of  the  many  loyal  and  distinguished  citizens  of 
the  United  States  who  had  not  been  honored  with  any  such 
mark  of  popular  esteem.  Why,  said  they,  select  a  Spaniard 
already  very  distinguished,  and  at  the  very  time  when  that  na- 
tion unjustly  withholds  from  us  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi river,  and  when  this  very  Don  Estevan  Miro  is  the  in- 
strument chosen  by  the  Spanish  king  and  court  to  guard  the 
waters  and  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  and  exclude  us  from  its 
use?  And  this  is  not  all;  why,  they  continued,  should  a  Span- 
ish official  be  so  honored  during  the  very  same  year  when  Spain 
was  demanding  of  the  Congress  that  the  United  States  should 
relinquish  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  for  a  period  of  at 
least  twenty-five  years — a  measure  which,  if  acceded  to,  would 
completely  break  up  and  ruin  all  of  the  settlements  in  Kentucky 
and  on  the  Cumberland?  Still  more,  this  mark  of  respect  was 
shown  to  a  Spanish  soldier  and  governor  at  a  time  when  the 
boatmen  from  the  upper  Mississippi,  Ohio  and  Cumberland,  if 
they  dared  to  float  their  flatboats  down  the  Mississippi  to 
Natchez  or  New  Orleans  with  their  tobacco  and  other  products, 
were  subjected  by  the  Spanish  to  the  most  outrageous  fines  and 
extortions,  in  the  shape  of  duties  imposed  for  the  use  of  a  great 
river,  and  also  to  seizure  and  sometimes  to  imprisonment.  Last 
but  not  least,  said  they,  this  very  Don  Estevan  Miro  is  at  this 
very  time  negotiating  and  intriguing  with  certain  persons  in 
Kentucky  and  Cumberland,  with  a  view  of  coming  to  terms 
*  Haywood's  History  of  Tennessee. 


Miiio,  ALIAS  "Mero."  89 

upon  which  Kentucky  and  the  Cumberland  country  will  become 
part  of  and  submit  to  the  government  of  Spain.  Truly,  it  did 
appear  rather  cloudy. 

These  various  phases  of  the  subject,  and  the  situation  of 
affairs  at  that  particular  time,  gave  to  the  tavern-talkers  a  wide 
field  for  speculation  and  conjecture,  as  well  as  alarm.  The 
truth  is,  the  correspondence  and  communications  alleged  to 
have  passed  between  Governor  Miro  and  certain  citizens  of 
Kentucky  and  the  Cumberland'country,  about  this  time,  would 
read  rather  curiously  if  offered  in  court  to  vindicate  the  Ken- 
tucky and  Cumberland  citizens  from  a  charge  of  disloyalty  to 
the  United  States.  Col.  Robertson,  however,  said  nothing  but 
"Miro";  and  he  subsequently  demonstrated  that  he  knew  what 
he  was  saying. 

It  is  suggested — and  this  is  probably  the  correct  view — that 
the  main  purpose  of  these  persons  in  Kentucky  and  Cumber- 
land who  were  in  correspondence  with  Governor  Miro  was,  in 
view  of  their  unanswered  appeals  to  Congress  for  help  and  pro- 
tection, ' '  if  the  federal  Union  can  not  give  aid  and  protection 
to  us  in  life,  liberty  and  property,  and  also  secure  to  us  the 
free  and  peaceable  exercise  of  the  right  to  navigate  the  Missis- 
sippi river  with  our  products,  why  then,  Spain  having  promised 
all  this,  we  will  unite  our  fortunes  with  the  Spanish. "  They 
knew  that  whoever  could  keep  the  Indians  at  peace  with  them, 
and  at  the  same  time  control  New  Orleans  and  the  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi,  was  the  absolute  arbiter  of  their  destiny, 
inasmuch  as,  without  the  right  to  use  the  Mississippi,  there 
was  no  market  the}-  could  reach  with  their  pi'oducts. 

August  26,  1779,  Galvez,  then  govei-nor  civil  and  military 
and  intendant  of  Louisiana,  appointed,  as  third  in  command  in 
the  campaign  which  he  was  about  to  undertake  against  the 
British,  Don  Estevan  Miro,  with  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel. 


90  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

Congress  observed  with  satisfaction  the  rupture  between  Great 
Britain  and  Spain;  and,  in  the  fall  of  1779,  sent  a  minister  to 
the  Spanish  court,  with  instructions  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  alli- 
ance, and  particularly  to  insist  on  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi river.  To  this  the  court  of  Spain  responded :  ' '  We  are 
disposed  to  acknowledge  the  independence  of  the  United  States, 
and  to  enter  into  a  treaty  of  alliance  and  commerce  with  you; 
but  if  you  wish  us  to  consent  to  your  admission  into  the  great 
family  of  nations,  you  must  subscribe  to  the  right  of  Spiiin  to 
the  exclusive  navigation  of  the  Mississippi,  and  consent  to  our 
taking  possession  of  both  the  Floridas  and  of  all  the  territory 
extending  from  the  left  bank  of  that  river  to  the  back  settle- 
ments of  the  former  British  provinces,  according  to  the  procla- 
mation of  1763."  In  this  proi)ositiou,  strange  as  it  may  seem, 
Spain  was  supported  by  France;  and  up  to  1788,  and  indeed  on 
up  to  October  27,  1795,  Spain  did  control  the  Mississippi.  On 
this  latter  date,  and  about  six  months  before  Tennessee  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union,  after  long  and  tedious  negotiations,  a 
treaty  was  concluded  between  the  United  States  and  Spain,  a 
part  of  the  fourth  article  of  which  reads  as  follows :  '  'And  his 
Catholic  Majest}'  has  likewise  agreed  that  the  navigation  of  the 
said  river  Mississippi,  in  its  whole  breadth  from  the  source  to 
the  ocean,  shall  be  free  to  only  his  subjects  and  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  unless  he  shall  extend  this  privilege  to  the 
subjects  of  other  powers  by  special  convention. "  At  the  time 
this  treat}'  was  entered  into.  Governor  Miro  was  in  Spain,  in 
attendance,  it  has  been  said,  on  the  court  at  Madrid.  He  was 
then  a  lieutenant-general  in  the  Spanish  army,  and  held  in  great 
esteem  in  Spain,  and  nothing  is  more  probable  than  that  his 
counsel  and  advice  on  the  subject  of  the  proposed  treaty  were 
sought.  It  was  entirely  natural  that,  when  asked  for  his  views, 
he  should  remember  James  Robertson,  Daniel  Smith  and  Rob- 


MlBO,    ALIAS    "MeRO,"  91 

ert  Hays,  the  courtesy  shown  him  and  the  friendly  and  respect- 
ful treatment  which  he  had  received  from  the  inhabitants  of  the 
district  named  in  his  honor,  and  that  he  should  therefore  favor 
the  concession  of  this  right.  In  the  very  nature  of  things,  the 
district  of  "Mero,"  misspelled  though  it  was,  and  the  circum- 
stances connected  with  and  surrounding  its  baptism  and  the 
man  who  was  its  sponsor,  ought  to  and  must  have  a  place,  not 
only  in  Tennessee  history,  but  in  the  ti'ue  history  of  the  United 
States. 

The  Spaniards,  constantly  haunted  by  fear  of  their  restless 
neighbors  in  Kentucky  and  the  Cumberland  country,  spared  no 
means  by  which  they  might  conciliate  the  Indians.  The  chief 
military  officer  of  the  Spanish,  writing  to  the  home  government, 
in  1786,  concerning  Alexander  McGillivray,  said:  "So  long  as 
we  shall  hold  this  chief  on  our  side,  we  will  have  a  barrier 
between  the  Floridas  and  Georgia.  The  Indians  are  convinced 
of  the  ambition  of  the  Americans;  past  injuries  still  dwell  in 
their  minds,  with  the  fear  that  these  greedy  neighbors  may  one 
day  seize  upon  their  lands.  It  ought  to  be  one  of  the  chief 
policies  of  this  government  to  keep  this  sentiment  alive  in  the 
breasts  of  the  Indians. "  Alexander  McGillivray  was  a  noted 
tory  during  the  Revolution,  and  had  taken  refuge  after  its 
close  among  the  Creek  nation.  He  was  a  man  of  great  courage 
andi  intelligence,  entertained  inveterate  hostility  to  the  whites, 
and  had  an  insatiable  ambition  for  personal  promotion.  He 
was  in  the  Spanish  pay,  as  agent  of  that  government  among 
the  Indians,  had  usurped  regal  authority,  and  was  also  chief  of 
the  Talapouches.  It  is  said  that  he  cherished  the  hope  of  hav- 
ing his  nation  admitted  into  the  federal  compact,  although  he 
was  in  the  service  of  Spain,  with  the  rank  of  colonel,  and  was 
afterward  promoted  to  be  commissary  generalf  This  dangerous 
man  was  under  the  absolute  control  of  Governor  Miro  in  1788, 


92  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History 

mhen  the  name  of  the  latter  was  bestowed  by  Robertson  on  the 
new  district.  The  fact  that  Miro  had  control  of  the  Mississippi 
river,  and  at  the  same  time  almost  absolute  command  over  the 
Indians  in  the  south,  furnishes,  it  is  believed,  the  logical  ex- 
planation of  the  motive  which  prompted  Robertson  and  Hays 
to  compliment  him  by  giving  his  name  to  the  newly  established 
judicial  district.  ^^ 

In  1788  Miro  was  made  civil  and  military  governor  and  in- 
tendant  of  Louisiana  and  West  Florida.  In  this  year  McGil- 
livray  wrote  him  that  two  delegates  from  the  district  of  Cum- 
berland had  just  visited  him  with  proposals  of  peace ;  that  they 
were  in  extremities  on  account  of  the  incursions  of  his  (McGil- 
livray's)  warriors,  and  would  submit  to  whatever  conditions  he 
might  impose;  and,  "presuming  that  it  would  please  me,  they 
added  that  they  would  throw  themselves  in  the  arms  of  His 
Majesty  as  subjects,  and  that  Kentucky  and  Cumberland  are 
determined  to  free  themselves  from  Congress;  that  they  no 
longer  owe  obedience  to  a  power  which  is  incapable  of  protect- 
ing them.  They  desired  to  know  my  sentiments  on  the  propo- 
sitions, but  as  it  embraces  important  political  questions,  I 
thought  proper  not  to  divulge  my  views. "  Miro,  commenting 
on  this  letter,  says: 

I  consider  as  extremely  interesting  the  intelligence  conveyed 
to  McGillivray  by  the  deputies  on  the  fermentation  existing  in 
Kentucky,  with  regard  to  a  separation  from  the  Union.  Con- 
cerning the  proposition  made  to  McGillivray  by  the  inhabitants 
of  Cumberland  to  become  the  vassals  of  His  Majesty,  I  have 
refrained  from  returning  any  precise  answer. 

McGillivray  was  no  doubt,  at  the  very  time  he  was  writing  to 
Miro,  also  in  the  service  and  pay  of  the  British ;  for,  in  April, 
1788,  in  a  letter  dated  at  "Little  Tellisee,  Upper  Creek  Na- 
tion," and  addre^ed  to  Colonels  Anthony  Bledsoe  and  James 
Robertson,  he  says,  among  other  things: 


MiRO,  ALIAS  "Mero,"  93. 

Mr.  Hackett  arrived  here  a  few  Days  ago  and  Delivered  me 
your  letter,  together  with  one  from  Col.  Hawkins.  Agreeably 
to  your  request  I  will  be  Explicit  and  Candid  in  my  answer  to 
3'ours,  and  will  not  deny  that  my  Nation  had  waged  war  against 
your  Country  for  several  5^ears  past,  but  that  we  had  no  mo- 
tives of  revenge,  nor  did  it  proceed  from  any  Sense  of  Injurys 
Sustained  from  your  people,  but  being  warmly  attached  to  the 
British,  and  being  under  their  Influence,  our  operations  were 
directed  by  them  against  you  in  common  with  other  Americans. 

The  letter  from  which  the  foregoing  is  quoted  is  of  consider- 
able length.  I  have  seen  the  original,  with  two  others,  and 
have  "true  and  perfect  copies"  of  all  three.*  That  from 
which  I  have  quoted  above  bears  entirely  upon  the  subject  of 
a  peace  proposed  between  the  Creek  nation  and  Cumberland  in 
the  letter  of  Colonels  Bledsoe  and  Robertson  to  which  it  is  an 
answer;  and  there  is  not  one  word  in  McGillivray's  letter  which 
indicates,  even  remotely,  that  Robertson  and  Bledsoe  had 
made  any  such  proposition  to  him  as  he  had  communicated  to 
Miro.  Col.  Robertson  had  written  him,  telling  him,  among 
other  things,  that  a  number  of  the  settlers  on  Cumberland  had 
been  killed  recently  by  his  warriors — ' '  among  those  unfortunate 
persons,"  says  Robertson,  "were  my  third  son." 

Further  along  in  McGillivray's  letter  to  Bledsoe  and  Robert- 
son, he  says:  "I  had  received  his  Excel.  Governor  Caswell's 
letter  and  Duplicate  only  a  short  time  before  the  unlucky  affair 
— so  that  I  Diff erred  writing  an  answer  until  I  could  be  satisfyed 
in  my  own  mind  that  he  might  Depend  on  what  I  should  say  to 
him,  as  I  abhor  every  Species  of  Duplicity,  I  wish  not  to  de- 
ceive."  He  concludes  as  follows:  " I  have  endeavored  to  make 
everything  as  agreeable  as  my  Situation  permits  to  Messrs. 
Hackett  &  Ewing" — which  shows  that  the  men  named  are  the 
"  two  delegates  from  the  district  of  Cumberland"  referred  to  in 

♦This  "big  Injun"  seems  to  have  written  his  name  as  >the  fancy  struck  him. 
The  signature  to  one  of  the  letters  is  "  McGillivray,"  while  the  other  two  are  signed 
"  McQilveray."    All  are  in  the  same  handwriting,  and  all  are  evidently  autographic. 


94  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

his  letter  to  Miro;  and  these  two  letters,  taken  together,  show 
what  a  treacherous  villain  and  liar  he  was,  notwithstanding  his 
abhorrence  of  "every  Species  of  Duplicity." 

In  April,  1789,  writing  to  General  AVilkinson  of  Kentucky, 
who  was  his  confederate  in  the  undertaking  to  separate  Ken- 
tucky, Miro  says: 

I  have  just  received  two  letters,  one  from  Brig.  Gen.  Daniel 
Smith,  dated  on  4;he  4th  of  March,  and  the  other  from  Col. 
James  Robertson,  with  date  of  the  11th  of  January,  both 
written  from  the  district  of  Miro.  The  bearer.  Fagot  [Hack- 
ett?],  a  confidential  agent  of  Gen.  Smith,  informed  me  that 
the  inhabitants  of  Cumberland,  or  Miro,  would  ask  North  Car- 
olina for  an  act  of  separation  the  following  fall,  and  that  as 
soon  as  this  should  be  obtained  other  delegates  would  be  sent 
from  Cumberland  to  New  Orleans,  with  the  object  of  placing 
that  territory  under  the  domination  of  His  Majesty.  I  replied 
to  both  in  general  terms. 

On  the  next  day  after  writing  this  letter.  Governor  Miro 
wrote  to  Gen.  Daniel  Smith  and  Col.  James  Robertson,  saying, 
among  other  things: 

The  giving  of  m}'  name  to  your  district  has  caused  me  much 
satisfaction,  and  I  feel  myself  highly  honored  by  the  compli- 
ment. It  increases  my  desire  to  contribute  to  the  development 
of  the  resources  of  that  province  and  the  prosperity  of  its  in- 
habitants. I  am  extremely  flattered  at  your  proposition  to 
enter  into  correspondence  with  me,  and  I  hope  that  it  will 
afl!ord  me  the  opportunity  to  be  agreeable  to  you. 

These  letters,  messages  and  communications  between  Governor 
Miro  and  leading  citizens  of  Miro  District  are  more  simple  and 
straightforward  than  diplomatic.  The  reader  of  this  part  of 
our  history,  however,  must  keep  in  mind  the  precarious  condition 
of  the  citizens  of  the  Miro  District  at  this  period :  a  vast  wilder- 
ness of  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles  behind  them, 
savage  Indians  on  both  sides  and  the  Spanish  in  front  of 
them ;  with  their  state  government  and  Congress  botll  so  weak 
that  neither  was  able  to  extend  them  the  slightest  aid  or  pro- 


MiRO,   ALIAS   "Mero."  95 

tection — thus  situated,  they  ver}'  naturally  turned  in  the  direc- 
tion that  not  only  had  the  power  but  gave  the  promise  of  pro- 
tection and  assistance.  Miro,  in  acknowledging  the  compliment 
conveyed  by  bestowing  his  name  on  the  new  court  district, 
said :  "It  increases  my  desire  to  contribute  to  the  development 
of  the  resources  of  that  province  and  the  prosperity  of  its  in- 
habitants."  In  the  year  1790,  the  Spanish  court,  contrary  to 
the  advice  of  Governor  Miro,  made  a  formal  order  levying  a 
tax  or  duty  of  fifteen  per  cent,  on  all  produce  or  freight 
carried  down  the  IMississippi  river.  This  order  so  inflamed  the 
people  of  Kentucky  and  Mii'o  District  that  it  had  the  effect 
feared  by  Miro,  of  practically  breaking  off  and  forever  ending 
further  negotiations  between  him  and  the  people  of  Miro  Dis- 
trict on  the  subject  of  the  Cumberland  country  becoming  a 
Spanish  pro\ince. 

Judge  IMartin,  in  his  history  of  Louisiana,  says  that,  at  about 
the  period  of  time  when  these  letters  were  passing,  there  were 
five  parties  in  the  westei*n  country — one  in  favor  of  the  forma- 
tion of  a  new  republic  unconnected  with  the  United  States,  and 
a  close  alliance  with  Spain;  another  that  wished  the  western 
part  of  the  United  States  to  become  a  portion  of  the  province 
of  Louisiana  and  to  submit  to  the  laws  of  Spain;  a  third,  de- 
sirous of  war  with  Spain,  an  open  invasion  of  Louisiana  and 
the  seizure  of  the  Mississippi  and  New  Orleans;  a  fourth,  pro- 
posing by  a  show  of  war  to  prevail  on  Congress  to  extort  from 
Spain  the  right  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi;  the 
fifth,  as  unnatural  as  the  second,  was  to  solicit  France  to  pro- 
cure a  retrocession  of  Louisiana  and  to  extend  her  protection 
to  Kentuckj'  and  Cumberland. 

The  administration  of  Miro  in  Louisiana  terminated  with  the 
year  1791.  In  a  letter  to  the  Spanish  court,  written  in  the  pre- 
vious year,  asking  permission  to  return  to  Spain,  he  says :   "I 


96  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

have  now  had  the  honor  of  serving  the  King,  always  with  dis- 
tinguished zeal,  for  thirty  years  and  three  months,  of  which 
twentj'-one  years  and  eight  months  in  America,  until  the  state 
of  my  health  requires  my  return  to  Europe."  He  returned  to 
Spain,  where  he  continued  his  military  career,  being  promoted 
from  the  rank  of  brigadier  to  that  of  lieutenant-general.  ' '  He 
carried  with  him,"  says  Judge  Martin,  "  the  good  wishes  and 
regrets  of  the  colonies. " 

The  character  of  Miro  was  that  of  a  kind-hearted,  benevo- 
lent, upright  gentleman.  Leprosy  prevailed  in  Louisiana,  and 
one  of  Miro's  first  acts,  on  being  appointed  Governor,  was  to 
erect  a  hospital  for  the  unfortunate  victims  of  that  disease,  on 
a  ridge  Ij'ing  between  the  Mississippi  river  and  Baj'ou  St.  John, 
which  was  called  "Leper's  Land."  Instances  were  related  in 
which  Miro  would  intercede  with  a  creditor  to  give  further  time 
to  an  unfortunate  debtor,  and  on  failing  to  obtain  such  indul- 
gence, he  would  satisfy  the  debt  out  of  his  private  funds.  In 
April,  1786,  the  king  of  Spain  issued  a  royal  order,  approving 
the  course  and  conduct  of  Miro,  who,  in  the  preceding  year, 
had  granted  the  former  British  subjects  in  Baton  Rouge  and 
Natchez,  which  had  been  conquered  by  the  Spanish,  ample  time 
to  sell  their  property,  collect  their  debts  and  remove  their  per- 
sons and  effects. 

Don  Estevan  Miro  left  his  name  on  the  judicial  records  and 
reports  of  Tennessee,  where  it.remained  until  November  4,  1809, 
when,  by  act  of  the  general  assembly,  the  state  was  divided 
into  five  judicial  circuits,  to  which  the  act  affixed  numbers  in- 
stead of  names.  Miro  District,  in  addition  to  Davidson,  Sum- 
ner and  Tennessee  counties,  included  at  one  time  the  counties 
of  Smith,  Wilson  and  Williamson.  When  "the  territory  of 
the  United  States  of  America  south  of  the  river  Ohio"  was  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union  as  the  state  of  Tennessee,  the  county  of 


MiRO,   ALIAS   "Mero."  97 

Tennessee,  at  the  first  session  of  the  general  assembly,  by  an 
act  passed  April  9,  1796,  was  divided  into  Montgomery  and 
Robertson  counties.  Thus  the  "District  of  Mero"  and  "Ten- 
nessee county  "  appeared  on  and  then  disappeared  from  the  face 
of  the  map  and  the  public  records  of  the  state  of  ^Tennessee. 

The  "Superior  Courts  of  Law  and  Equity"  for  the  Miro 
District  were  held  in  Nashville.  An  act  of  the  first  session  of 
the  first  general  assembly  of  Tennessee,  passed  April  22,  1796, 
recites  that  the  court  house,  or  the  ' '  office  of  the  clerk  and 
master  of  the  District  of  Mero  was  lately  destroyed  by  fire, 
and  the  books,  records  and  papers  thereof  lost,"  etc.,  and  then 
provides  for  setting  up  the  records. 

While  the  capital  and  the  state  treasury  were  located  at  Knox- 
ville,  there  was  a  branch  treasury  kept  in  the  Miro  District  at 
Nashville. 

The  present  chief  justice  of  the  United  States,  Hon.  Melville 
W.  Fuller,  in  an  opinion  on  the  constitutionality  of  a  recent 
law  of  the  state  of  Michigan,  providing  for  the  selection  of 
presidential  electors  by  a  vote  of  each  congressional  district 
separately  taken,  refers  to  an  act  of  the  general  assembly  of 
the  state  of  Tennessee,  which  appointed  a  committee  of  citizens 
in  the  District  of  Miro  and  empowered  it  to  elect  presidential 
electors — the  chief  justice,  as  I  understand  him,  approving 
both  these  methods  as  a  compliance  with  the  constitution.  The 
act  referred  to  is  worthy  of  acquaintance,  and  I  therefore  em- 
body the  substance  of  it  in  this  chapter,  as  I  presume  that 
there  are  very  few  persons  familiar  with  its  provisions.  The 
act  was  passed  August  8,  1796,  and  is  as  follows: 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee, that  three  electors  shall  be  elected,  one  in  the  district 
of  Washington,  one  in  the  district  of  Hamilton  and  one  in  the 
district  of  Mero,  as  directed  by  this  Act,  to  elect  a  president 
and  vice  president  of  the  United  States,  and  that  the  said 
7 


98  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

electors  may  be  elected  with  as  little  trouble  as  possible  to  the 
citizens. 

Sec.  2nd.  Be  it  enacted  that  John  Carter,  John  Adams,  and 
John  McCollester  of  the  County  of  Washington;  John  Rhea, 
John  Spurgeon  and  Robert  Allison  of  Sullivan  County,  Daniel 
Kennedy,  Joseph  Hardin  and  James  Stinson  of  the  county  of 
Greene;  and 'Richard  Mitchell,  John  Young  and  Bartlet  Mar- 
shall of  the  county  of  Hawkins,  are  appointed  electors  to  elect 
an  elector  for  that  purpose  for  the  district  of  Washington; 
John  Adah*,  Charles  McClung  and^  Samuel  Flonnagan  of  the 
County  of  Knox;  Andrew  Henderson,  Josiah  Jackson  and 
Christopher  Hains  of  the  County  of  Jetferson;  Samuel  Mc- 
Gahey,  Josiah  Gist,  Alexander  Montgomery  of  the  County  of 
Sevier;  and  Robert  Boid,  "William  Lowry  and  David  Caldwell 
of  Wells  Station  of  the  Count}'  of  Blount,  are  appointed  elect- 
ors to  elect  an  elector  for  the  purpose  aforesaid  for  the  district 
of  Hamilton;  Thomas  Molloy,  William  Donelson  and  George 
Ridley  of  the  County  of  Davidson;  Kasper  Mansco,  Edward 
Douglass  and  John  Hogan  of  the  County  of  Sumner;  George 
Nevill  senior,  Josiah  Fort  and  Thomas  Johnson  of  the  late 
county  of  Tennessee,  are  appointed  electors  to  elect  an  elector 
in  the  District  of  Mero,  for  the  purpose  aforesaid. 

Sec.  4.  The  electors  in  this  Act  before  named  shall  convene, 
those  for  the  District  of  Washington  at  Jonesborough,  those 
for  the  District  of  Hamilton  at  Knoxville,  and  those  for  the 
District  of  Mero  at  Nashville,  on  the  Second  Monday  of  No- 
vember in  the  year  1796,  and  being  so  convened,  they,  or  so 
many  of  them  as  shall  attend  on  said  day,  proceed  to  elect  by 
ballot  an  elector  qualified  as  by  this  Act  directed,  for  the  pur- 
pose aforesaid. 

The  act  further  provides  that,  ' '  if  two  or  more  persons  shall 
have  the  same  number  of  votes,  it  shall  be  decided  in  the  same 
manner  as  Grand  Jurors  are  drawn  for,  in  the  Superior  Courts  " 
— that  is,  the  names  of  such  persons  as  received  the  same  num- 
ber of  votes  were  to  be  written  on  slips  of  paper  and  put  into  a 
box  or  hat;  a  boy  under  twelve  years  of  age  then  drew  out  one 
of  the  slips,  and  the  person  whose  name  appeared  thereon  re- 
ceived the  certificate  of  election. 

The  electors  chosen  received  certificates  of  election  signed  by 
the  committee,  and  the  three  electors  thus  chosen  were  directed 


MiRo,   ALIAS  "Mero."  99 

by  the  act  to  ' '  convene  at  Knoxville  on  the  first  Wednesday  in 
December,  1796,  and  proceed  to  elect  a  president  and  vice- 
president  of  the  United  States. " 

This  act,  or  method  of  selecting  presidential  electors,  was  re- 
enacted  by  the  general  assembly  of  Tennessee,  October  26, 
1799,  for  the  presidential  election  to  occur  in  1800.  I  am  not 
aware  that  this  method  of  selecting  presidential  electors  was 
ever  adopted  by  any  other  state. 

This  seeming  digression  from  the  main  subject  will  be  par- 
doned, in  view  of  the  fact  that  Chief  Justice  Fuller,  as  I  under- 
stand him,  refers  to  the  act  under  consideration  as  applicable 
only  to  the  Miro  District. 

The  method  of  choosing  presidential  electors  prescribed  in 
this  act  shows  how  implicitly  the  people  at  that  time  trusted 
their  representatives,  and  also  the  confidence  the  representa- 
tives reposed  in  the  judgment  and  patriotism  of  the  citizen,  as 
well  as  the  confidence  which  the  people  then  had  in  the  honor 
and  patriotism  of  each  other. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ANDREW  JACKSON  AS  A  "  SPOBTr 

IN  many  respects  Andrew  Jackson  was  the  most  interesting, 
picturesque  and  unique  charactar  America  has  produced. 
Scotch  and  Irish  blood  commingling  in  his  veins,  there  was 
a  perfect  blend  of  the  characteristics  of  both  races,  and  in  ad- 
dition thereto  he  had  some  traits  and  besetments  peculiarly  his 
own.  In  his  calm  and  restful  moods,  he  was  as  tender  and 
serene  as  a  child,  and  easily  accessible  by  the  very  humblest; 
but  when  the  storm  of  passion  swept  over  his  soul,  he  was  a 
flaming  furnace  of  fury,  almost  wholly  heedless  of  conse- 
quences, and  as  much  to  be  feared  and  avoided  as  an  enraged 
lion.  In  the  face  of  perils  he  had  the  dauntlessness  of  John 
Knox,  and  was  an  exact  counterpart  of  the  great  reformer  when 
he  threw  down  the  gage  of  battle  to  the  Roman  hierarchy.  A 
soldier  by  nature,  he  scoffed  at  the  prescribed  rules  of  military 
movements,  and  made  his  own  tacticg,  surpassing  even  the 
Corsican  prodigy  in  martial  genius  and  originality,  as  the 
trained  soldiers  of  Pakenham,  who  won  the  bloody  field  of 
Waterloo,  testified  involuntarily  when  they  fled  in  defeat  and 
dismay  before  his  undisciplined  militia  from  the  gates  of  New 
Orleans. 

The  highest  order  of  statesmanship  wrought  in  him  its  per- 
fect work.  If  he  was  not  the  founder,  he  was  the  preserver,  of 
a  great  party.  He  was  a  sturdy  patriot.  Love  of  country  was 
the  controlling  emotion  of  his  great  soul.  The  determination 
which  animated  him,  crystallized  in  his  stern  pronouncement, 
"  The  federal  union:  it  must  be  preserved!  "  crushed  an  incip- 
ient rebellion  as  a  giant  would  crush  a  shell  of  glass. 


Andrew  Jackson  as  a  "Sport."  101 

His  judicial  administration  was  signalized  by  clear  discern- 
ment, keen  analysis,  deep  penetration,  ready  and  coiTCct  de- 
cision, and  an  instinct  to  trail  the  sly  and  devious  cunning  of 
wrong  and  guilt. 

Jackson  lacked  the  refinements  of  fashion  and  the  polished 
graces  of  the  courtier,  but  his  quick  grasp  of  every  situation 
and  his  instinctive  sense  of  the  proprieties  bore  him  with  com- 
posure and  dignity  through  all  the  social  ordeals  through  which 
he  had  to  pass.  Still,  in  these  functions  he  had  a  will  and  a 
way  of  his  own,  and  little  he  recked  whether  others  were  pleased 
or  aflfronted. 

Jackson's  figure,  like  the  shadow  of  the  Brocken,  grows  more 
colossal  as  we  recede  from  it. 

This  is  one  side  of  Jackson's  life — the  sober,  serious  side — 
an  unblurred  career  of  honor,  usefulness  and  triumph,  for  which 
the  truth-loving  muse  of  history  never  tires  of  garlanding  his 
name  with  the  most  loving  eulogies.  x\s  is  usually  the  case 
with  mortals,  there  was  a  reverse  side  of  Jackson's  character. 
Here  we  find  a  few  spots  on  the  otherwise  white  flower  of  a 
blameless  life. 

In  the  j-ears  before  honors  thrust  themselves  so  thick  and 
fast  upon  him,  he  was  what  would  now  be  called  a  "sport." 
The  semi-civilization  of  the  time,  his  rugged  environment,  the 
lack  of  training  consequent  upon  the  loss  of  his  natural  guard- 
ians, his  absolute  dependence  upon  himself,  and  his  high-born 
spirit  that  could  brook  no  control,  combine  to  form  an  eloquent 
plea  in  extenuation  of  the  few  ' '  indiscretions  "  that  were  min- 
gled with  so  many  commendable  traits.  He  loved  the  excite- 
ment and  wild  abandon  of  the  chase,  and  the  deep-mouthed 
pack's  "heavy  ha.j,  resounding  up  the  rocky  way"  and  mount- 
ain solitudes,  was  sweeter  music  to  his  enraptured  ear  than  a 
thunderous  jumble  of  Dutch  diapasons  to  a  Wagnerian  devotee. 


102         Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

Jackson  was  fond  of  adventure  and  games  requiring  daring, 
alertness,  skill  and  strength,  and  engaged  with  the  heartiest 
zeal  in  all  the  rude  hilarities  of  pioneer  life;  but  horse-racing 
was  his  special  weakness.  At  the  time  spoken  of,  he  knew  a 
great  deal  more  about  the  "points"  of  a  flyer  than  he  did  about 
Blackstone,  the  science  of  government  or  the  ten  command- 
ments. A  fleet-footed  horse  was  14s  idol,  and  when  he  saw 
one  equal  or  break  the  record  made  by  Maggie  on  the  night 
when  she  outstripped  the  witches  of  Kirk  Alloway  with  fright- 
ened Tam  O'Shanter  clinging  to  her  mane,  his  was  the  ecstacy 
of  the  swain  in  his  earliest  love.  On  this  "weak  point" 
hangs  an  o'er-true  tale,  and  the  event  gives  a  true  insight  into 
Jackson's  character  when  he  was  at  his  worst. 

It  happened  along  in  the  eighties  of  the  last  century,  when 
Jackson  was  a  resident  of  Washington  county  and  boarded 
with  Christopher  Taylor  (familiarly  known  as  "Kit  Taylor," 
and  grandfather  of  Skelton  Taylor  of  Chattanooga),  who  lived, 
as  stated  in  an  earlier  chapter,  about  one  mile  below  Jones- 
boro,  on  the  road  to  the  Brown  settlement.  At  this  time, 
Jackson's  "weakness"  was  at  its  weakest,  and  horse-racing 
was  his  most  delightful  occupation.  He  had  a  i-acer  upon 
which  he  lavished  his  time  and  his  affections,  and  which  he 
imagined  was  the  fastest  in  all  the  country  ;  and  he  was  eager 
to  "back  his  judgment"  with  all  the  means  at  his  command. 
Col.  Love,  who  lived  in  Greasy  Cove,  then  a  part  of  Wash- 
ington county  and  now  of  Unicoi,  owned  the  champion  flyer 
of  the  new  country,  having  even  defeated  the  fastest  horses 
over  in  Virginia,  about  Wolf  Hills,  where  Abingdon  now 
stands.  Jackson  envied  Love,  and  was  determined  to  rob  him 
of  his  laurels  and  becloud  the  reputation  of  his  horse.  He 
sent  a  challenge,  which  was  promptly  accepted. 

The  race  was  widely  and  graphically  advertised.     In  all  the 


Andrew  Jackson  as  a  "Sport."        ,         103 

contests  of  equine  speed,  it  would  have  no  prototype  in  the 
past  and  no  rival  in  the  future.  All  upper  East  Tennessee 
was  stirred  into  a  ferment  of  excitement,  which  grew  more 
intense  every  day,  from  the  time  of  the  announcement  until 
the  event  took  place.  The  coming  horse-race  became  the 
absorbing,  exclusive  topic  of  conversation  at  the  log-rollings, 
house-raisings,  quiltings,  distilleries,  stores,  school-houses, 
firesides,  inns  and  before  and  after  "meetin'."  Children 
caught  the  infection  from  the  adults,  and  the  dogs,  if  they 
have  the  intelligence  with  which  they  are  credited,  doubtless 
cast  knowing  winks  at  each  other  when  their  respective  owners 
discussed  the  universal  theme  and  speculated  upon  the  outcome 
of  the  to-be-incomparable  event. 

The  place  selected  for  the  race  was  in  Greasy  Cove,  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  the  Loves.  Tall  mountains  looked  down 
on  lower  heights,  and  these  in  turn  on  the  spot  to  be  made  his- 
toric— a  poem  of  nature,  a  dream  of  beauty  in  a  setting  of 
scenic  grandeur,  embroidered  with  the  silver  fretwork  of  the 
Nolichucky's  restless  billows. 

The  track  was  a  half -circle,  half  a  mile  long. 

The  advertised  day,  in  the  summer  or  early  fall  of  1788, 
came  at  last,  and  with  it  the  popular  excitement  pitched  to  the 
highest  tension.  And  such  a  heterogeneous  mass  as  swanned 
into  that  sequestered  valley — the  old,  the  young,  farmers, 
workers  in  wood  and  iron,  lawyers,  doctors,  saints,  sinners, 
and  even  preachers;  on  foot  and  horseback,  singly,  in  groups 
and  in  vast  cavalcades,  from  Washington,  Greene,  Hawkins, 
Sullivan,  and  from  the  Wolf  Hills  of  Virginia.  Civilization 
had  not  yet  reached  a  sufficient  development  to  produce  a 
"moonshiner,"  but  "the  rosy"  flowed  as  copiously  as  if  some 
magician  had  changed  the  neighboring  streamlets  into  the  crys- 
tal elixir,  and  the  number  of  fisticuffs  was  in  proportion  to  its 


104  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

<x)nsumption.  As  was  the  custom  of  the  day,  the  fellows 
"spilin'  for  a  fight"  stripped  to  the  waist  line  and  fought  in  a 
ring,  and  when  one  cried,  "  Take  him  off!"  the  mill  ended,  the 
bitten,  gouged  and  bleeding  combatants  "made  up,"  washed, 
dressed,  and  sealed  the  pact  of  peace  with  a  drink  of  whiskey 
from  the  same  gourd.  The  men  who  met  at  Sycamore  shoals, 
followed  "the  sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon"  across  the 
Alleghanies  under  Sevier  and  Shelby,  drove  the  Hessian  hordes 
from  King's  Mountain  and  closed  the  final  chapter  of  the  Revo- 
lution with  one  of  its  grandest  triumphs,  were  there.  The 
pioneer  who  built  his  fort-cabin  in  the  wilderness  and  shot  the 
prowling  savage  through  a  chink  in  the  wall,  was  there,  with 
his  faithful  spouse  and  the  rest  of  the  family.  The  lovesick 
swain  in  his  flax  linen,  with  his  bonnie  lass  in  a  gown  of  snowy 
cotton,  who  caused  the  mountain  roses  to  pale  with  envy  as 
she  glided  like  a  sylph  among  them,  was  there  also.  But  the 
horse-race  overshadowed  everything  else  in  interest  and  im- 
portance. 

Jackson  had  been  training  his  horse  for  months  in  advance 
in  "Kit"  Taylor's  neighborhood,  and  the  racer  knew  his  mas- 
ter's imperious  will  perfectly.  He  "smelt  the  battle  afar  off," 
and  perhaps  at  the  same  time  "danger  in  the  tainted  air";  but 
when  the  test  came,  the  determination  to  be  first  under  the 
string  thrilled  everj'  fiber  and  sinew  in  his  lithe  and  wiry  body. 

The  betting  was  fast  and  furious,  and  the  reckless  readiness 
of  the  gamblers,  following  the  example  of  the  contestants,  to 
risk  all  on  their  favorite  steed,  would  have  taken  away  the 
breath  of  even  the  "plunger"  of  toda3\  Guns,  furs,  iron, 
clothing,  cattle,  horses,  negroes,  crops,  lands  and  all  the  money 
procurable  were  staked  on  the  result.  No  "boom"  period  in 
that  section  saw  so  much  property  change  hands  in  so  short  a 
time. 


Andrew  Jackson  as  a  "Sport."  105 

A  week  or  ten  days  before  the  race,  Jackson  was  overtaken 
by  a  serious  disappointment.  His  jocke}',  a  negro  boy  belong- 
ing to  Taylor,  was  taken  down  with  a  violent  fever.  Jackson 
announced  his  determination  to  ride  the  race  himself,  and  Love 
readily  agreed  to  the  proposition.  AVhen  this  arrangement  be- 
came known,  the  throng  became  delirious  with  enthusiasm  and 
delight.  The  judges,  who  had  been  selected  after  a  good  deal 
of  finesse  and  some  wrangling,  were  stationed  half  and  half  at 
each  end  of  the  semicircular  track.  Jackson  appeared  on  his 
restless  and  impatient  flyer,  with  a  haughty  air  of  confidence 
and  self-possession,  the  rival  steed  prancing  at  his  side,  under 
the  control  of  a  born  jockey,  who  well  knew  the  responsibility 
resting  upon  him  and  how  to  act  his  part  on  the  momentous 
occasion.  They  were  started  with  a  shout  that  shook  the  azure 
vault  above  and  reverberated  in  answering  echoes  from  the  sur- 
rounding mountains.  The  horses  were  marvels  of  symmetry 
and  beauty,  and  in  fine  condition  for  speed  and  endurance.  At 
the  word  "  Go!  "  they  shot  out  on  the  smooth  track  as  if  they 
had  been  hurled  from  two  monster  mortars.  On  they  sped, 
neck  and  neck.  The  jockey  was  the  hazy  outline  of  a  boy 
printed  on  the  air :  Jackson  rode  as  if  he  were  part  of  his  spec- 
tral horse.  The  yells  of  the  onlookers  packed  around  the  cres- 
cent course  would  have  drowned  the  blending  screams  of  a  hun- 
dred steam-whistles.  All  at  once,  the  Love  horse  spurted  ahead. 
The  partisans  of  Jackson  got  their  breath  in  gasps.  The  victor 
whizzed  under  the  string  like  an  arrow,  leaving  Old  Hickory  to 
make  the  goal  at  his  leisure.  If  Jackson's  horse  was  a  wind- 
splitter  that  left  a  blue  line  behind  him.  Love's  was  the  same  as  a 
belated  streak  of  lightning  chasing  a  hurricane  that  had  outrun 
it.  Just  for  a  moment  there  was  the  deep,  ominous  hush  that 
precedes  the  crash  of  the  tempest;  then  a  pandemonium  of., 
noise  and  tumult  that  might  have  been  heard  in  the  two  neigh- 


106  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

boring  states  broke  loose.  It  awoke  the  black  bear  from  liis 
siesta,  and  the  frightened  red  deer  ' '  sprang  from  his  lieathery 
couch  in  haste  "  and  sought  the  distant  heights.  The  loud, 
long  and  deep  profanity  would  have  discounted  the  "army  in 
Flanders. "  Jackson  was  the  star  actor  in  this  riot  of  passion 
and  frenzy.  His  brow  was  corrugated  with  wrath.  His  tall, 
sinewy  form  shook  like  an  aspen  leaf.  His  face  was  the  livid 
color  of  the  storm-cloud  when  it  is  hurling  its  bolts  of  thunder. 
His  Irish  blood  was  up  to  the  boiling-point,  and  his  eyes 
flashed  with  the  fire  of  war.  He  was  an  overflowing  Vesuvius 
of  rage,  pouring  the  hot  lava  of  denunciation  on  the  Love 
family  in  general  and  his  victorious  rival  in  particular.  Col. 
Love  stood  before  this  storm  unblanched  and  unappalled — for 
he  too  had  plenty  of  "sand,"  and  as  lightly  esteemed  the  value 
of  life — and  answered  burning  invective  with  invective  hissing 
with  the  same  degree  of  heat  and  exasperation.  Jackson  de- 
nounced the  Loves  as  a  "band  of  land  pirates,"  because  they 
held  the  ownership  of  nearly  all  the  choice  lands  in  that  section. 
Love  retorted  by  calling  Jackson  ' '  a  damned  long,  gangling, 
sorrel-topped  soap-stick."  The  exasperating  ofTensiveness  of 
this  retort  may  be  better  understood  when  it  is  explained  that  in 
those  days  women  "conjured"  their  soap  by  stirring  it  with  a 
long  sassafras  stick. 

The  dangerous  character  of  both  men  was  well  known,  and 
it  was  ended  by  the  interference  of  mutual  friends,  who  led  the 
enraged  rivals  from  the  grounds  in  different  directions. 

It  is  probable  that  this  crushing  defeat,  with  its  intense 
mortification  and  odious  memories,  gave  Jackson  a  profound 
distaste  for  the  turf  and  other  time-wasting  sports  of  pioneer 
life.  At  all  events,  he  turned  his  attention  to  tlie  sober  and 
"weightier  matters"  of  life,  and  eagerly  embraced  the  "tide 
in  the  affairs  of  men  "  which  led  to  fame  and  fortune,  and  en- 


Andrew  Jackson  as  a  "Sport."  107 

abled  him,  on  the  field  of  battle,  in  the  forum  of  law,  in  the 
council  hall  and  at  the  head  of  a  great  nation,  to  make  for 
himself 

"One  of  the  few,  the  immortal  names 
That  were  not  born  to  die." 

The  incidents  and  results  of  this  celebrated  horse-race  did 
not  in  the  least  discredit  Jackson  in  the  estimation  of  the  people 
where  it  occurred,  as  was  shown  long  afterward.  While  it  was 
difficult  to  exaggerate  the  great  victory  gained  over  the  British 
at  New  Orleans  by  Gen.  Jackson,  still  it  was  somewhat  ex- 
aggerated by  the  time  the  news  of  it  reached  Jonesboro. 
Some  few  days  after  the  first  account  of  the  battle  had  reached 
the  town — in  a  letter  from  a  Knoxville  gentleman  to  a  friend 
in  Jonesboro — some  court  day  or  other  public  occasion  had 
caused  quite  a  crowd  to  collect  in  town,  and  the  gentleman 
who  had  received  the  letter  was  requested  to  make  a  public 
announcement  of  its  contents  to  the  anxious  and  excited  pop- 
ulace. This  he  did  in  front  of  the  court-house.  The  excite- 
ment was  at  blood  heat,  but  perfect  silence  and  order  prevailed 
while  the  gentleman  was  making  his  speech — for  such  it  was, 
as  he  did  not  actually  read  the  letter.  The  substance  of  the 
speech  was  that  Gen.  Jackson  had  killed  the  whole  of  the 
British  army  on  the  battle-field,"  except  a  few  who  were  driven 
into  the  Mississippi  river  and  drowned  ;  that  he  had  captured 
all  of  their  arms  and  ships,  and  had  taken  his  own  army  on 
board  the  vessels,  and  was  then  on  the  high  seas  on  his  way  to 
take  possession  of  England.  At  this  point,  which  was  the 
conclusion  of  the  speech,  and  old  man  of  sixty,  standing  near 
the  speaker,  threw  his  hat  into  the  air,  and  jumping  excitedly 
up  and  down,  shouted  :  "Whoop-pee  !  hurrah  for  Andy  Jack- 
son, hell  and  thunder !  I  knowed,  the  day  I  seed  him  ride 
that  hoss-race  in  Greasy  Cove,  that  he  could  whup  anybody  !" 


108  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

The  scene  that  followed  was  without  a  precedent  in  the  history 
of  the  town,  not  even  the  return  of  Sevier  with  his  conquering 
heroes  from  King's  Mountain  having  caused  more  rejoicing 
and  celebrating.  From  and  after  that  time,  the  exclamation 
of  Gen.  Jackson's  enthusiastic  admirer  became  a  saying  in  the 
country  round  about ;  and  when  news  of  an  earthquake,  the 
burning  of  a  town  or  city,  the  sinkipg  of  a  ship  at  sea  with  all 
on  board,  would  be  told  to  some  not  over-reverent  citizen,  he 
would  exclaim,  "Andy  Jackson,  hell  and  thunder !"  as  the  only 
words  adquate  to  express  his  feelings  on  the  reception  of  news 
of  such  a  catastrophe. 

The  deep-rooted,  heartfelt,  undying  hatred  of  the  British 
which  these  people  nursed,  kept  alive  and  handed  down,  may 
be  illustrated  by  the  recital  of  a  few  facts  which  came  within 
my  own  knowledge  and  observation.  During  the  recent  war 
between  the  states,  there  was  much  said  and  written,  at  one 
period,  about  England  recognizing  the  independence  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  and  entering  into  diplomatic  or  friendly 
relations  w^ith  the  Confederate  government.  While  this  subject 
was  under  discussion,  I  heard  old  men,  who  were  intense  in 
their  loyalty  to  the  Southern  cause,  and  who  had  sent  their  sons 
all  into  the  Confederate  army,  declare  openlj'  and  vehemently 
that,  if  the  Southern  Confederacy  "made  friends  with  the 
British, "  they  would  renounce  their  allegiance  to  it  and  bring 
their  boys  home;  that  they  had  rather  be  subjugated  by  the 
Yankees  than  to  conquer  with  the  aid  of  "the  British"! 

So  late  as  1882-3,  Sir  Thomas  Watson,  an  Englishman,  spent 
several  months  in  Jonesboro,  examining  and  negotiating  for  a 
valuable  piece  of  iron  property  in  Washington  county.  He 
would  come  to  my  oflBce  occasional!}',  and  would  sit  and  talk 
with  me.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  an  old  friend  of  mine, 
some  seventy  years  of  age,  came  in,  and  I  introduced  him  to 
Sir  Thomas,  telling  him  that  the  latter  was  from  England.     My 


Andrew  Jackson  as  a  "Sport."  109 

old  friend  sat  down,  but  did  not  address  a  word  to  the  gentle- 
man to  whom  I  had  introduced  him  during  the  half  or  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour  which  ensued;  but  I  noticed  him  more  than 
once  looking  at  the  Englishman  very  much  as  if  he  was  "draw- 
ing a  bead"  on  him  along  the  barrel  of  a  rifle.  When  Watson 
left  the  office,  the  old  gentleman's  eyes  followed  him.  As  the 
door  closed  after  him,  my  old  friend  drew  a  breath  of  relief, 
and  asked,  "Whafs  he  doing  here?"  When  I  told  him,  he 
appeared  incredulous.  "I  don't  believe  he's  after  any*good," 
he  said;  "better  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  Britisher.  This 
one  may  be  a  spy.  If  Andy  Jackson  was  alive,  and  was  to 
hear  of  that  man  being  here,  I'll  bet  he  would  drive  him  out  of 
this  country!" 

The  race-horse  in  Greasy  Cove,  in  the  shadow  of  the  mount- 
ain over  which  Jackson  had  crossed  a  few  months  before,  and 
in  the  midst  of  the  early  settlements  of  Tennessee,  was  not  the 
last  time  he  appeared  on  horseback  in  the  presence  of  his  ad- 
miring and  applauding  countrymen.  In  1833  President  Andrew 
Jackson  rode  on  horseback  along  Broadway  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  in  a  "roaring  wave"  of  shouts  that  came  from  a  "  sea 
of  upturned  faces  "  which  lined  the  whole  way  of  his  triumphal 
ride  through  the  great  thoroughfare  of  the  great  city,  where 
men,  women  and  children  had  gathered  to  get  even  a  passing 
glimpse  of  the  hero  of  the  hour.  He  was  then  sixty-six  years 
old,  but  his  horsemanship,  acquired  in  part  at  the  celebrated 
race  in  Greasy  Cove,  prevented  on  this  occasion  a  serious  acci- 
dent to  the  President  of  the  United  States.  It  was  said  by  those 
who  witnessed  the  manner  in  which  he  sat  upon  and  controlled 
the  spirited  and  frightened  charger  which  he  rode,  that  the 
horse  would  have  dashed  any  other  man  headlong  from  the 
saddle;  but  Jackson  was  as  cool  and  calm  as  he  was  skillful, 
and  soon  brought  the  animal  under  perfect  control — as  he  soon 
afterwards  did  Nicholas  Biddle  and  the  United  States  Bank. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

JACKSON'S  D  UEL  WITH  A  VER  Y. 

WAIGHTSTILL  AVERY  was  the  most  prominent  man  and 
the  leading  lawyer  in  Westerns  North  Carolina  when  An- 
drew Jackson  came  to  the  bar.  At  that  time,  and  indeed 
from  the  time  of  the  organization  of  the  first  court  west  of  the 
Blue  Ridge,  Avery  had  the  most  extensive  practice  of  any  law- 
yer attending  the  courts  east  or  west  of  the  mountains.  He 
began  his  professional  life  west  of  the  Alleghanies  with  the  or- 
ganization of  the  first  court  in  Washington  county,  and  was 
therefore  a  well-known,  as  he  was  a  reputable  and  highly  re- 
spected, lawyer  before  Jackson's  appearance  there.  * '  He  was 
born  in  Norwich,  Connecticut,  and  was  educated  at  Princeton, 
from  which  he  graduated  in  1766.  He  was  a  tutor  in  that 
college  for  a  year,  when  he  removed  to  Maryland,  and  studied 
law  under  Littleton  Dennis.  He  emigrated  to  North  Carolina, 
and  was  licensed  to  practise  law  in  1769.  He  encouraged  edu- 
cation and  literature,  and  was  a  most  devoted  friend  of  liberty. 
He  led  the  bold  spirits  of  his  day  in  his  patriotic  county,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  convention  in  1775,  at  Mecklenburg,  that 
declared  for  independence.  The  minutes  of  the  proceedings 
show  his  zeal  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  the  confidence  of  his 
countrymen  in  his  talents  and  integrity  is  proved  by  the  im 
portant  duties  he  was  engaged  to  perform.  This  called  down 
upon  him  the  vengeance  of  the  enemy;  for,  when  Lord  Com- 
wallis  occupied  Charlotte,  the  law  oflSce  of  Col.  Avery,  with  all 
his  books  and  papers,  was  burnt.  In  1775,  he  was  a  delegate 
from  Mecklenburg  in  the  state  Congress  at  Hillsboro  which 
placed  the  state  in  military  organization.     In  1776,  he  was  a 


jACKSoif's  Duel  with  Avery.  Ill 

delegate  of  the  same  to  the  same,  which  met  at  Halifax  and 
formed  the  state  constitution.  He  was  appointed  one  of  the 
signers  to  the  proclamation  bills.  In  1777,  he  was  sent  by  the 
council  (of  state)  with  orders  to  Gen.  Williamson,  at  Keowee, 
South  Carolina.  He  was  appointed  by  Governor  Alex.  Martin 
(1777),  with  Brig. -Gen.  John  McDowell  and  Col.  John  Sevier, 
to  treat  with  the  Cherokee  Indians.  He  was  elected  the  first 
attorne}'  general  of  North  Carolina,  in  1777,  which  he  resigned 
on  account  of  his  health,  and  removed  to  Burke  county  in 
1781,  which  he  represented  for  many  years,  and  where  he,  en- 
joying peace  and  plenty  and  the  love  and  regard  of  his  neigh- 
bors, died  in  1821.  He  was  at  the  time  of  his  death  the 
'patriarch  of  the  North  Carolina  bar,'  and  an  exemplary 
Christian,  a  pure  patriot  and  an  honest  man."  Such  is  the 
brief  account  given  by  the  North  Carolina  historian,  Wheeler,* 
of  the  man  with  whom  Jackson  fought  the  duel  at  Jonesboro, 
which  shows  that  Avery  was  no  ordinary  man. 

Avery  graduated  from  Princeton  in  1766;  Jackson  was  born 
March  15,  1767.  Hence,  Avery  must  have  been  at  least  twenty 
years  older  than  Jackson.  The  records  at  Jonesboro  show  that 
Avery  attended  the  various  courts  up  to  about  the  time  Ten- 
nessee was  admitted  into  the  Union,  and  that  he  was  on  one  or 
the  other  side  of  nearly  all  the  cases  in  the  courts  held  there. 

More  than  one  version  of  the  duel,  and  the  cause  of  it,  have 
been  given.      I  have  read  and  heard  two  of  these. 

Parton,  in  his  life  of  Jackson,!  gives  an  account  of  this 
duel,  as  detailed  by  Col.  Isaac  T.  Avery,  son  of  Col.  Waight- 
still  Avery,  and  it  would  seem  that  this  version  of  the  affair 
ought  to  be  accepted.  It  will  be  noticed,  however,  that  Par- 
ton's  account  omits  to  state  any  fact  or  facts  that  caused  or  led 

*  History  of  North  Carolina,  part  ii,  page  56. 
t  Partou's  Life  of  Jackson,  I,  162. 


112  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

up  to  the  challenge — he  merely  states  that  the  two  attorneys 
were  on  opposing  sides  in  a  case  at  Jonesboro ;  that  the  cause 
was  going  rather  against  Jackson,  that  he  became  irritated,  and 
that  Avery  rather  exultingly  ridiculed  some  legal  position  taken 
by  Jackson,  using  language  that  was  more  sarcastic  than  was 
called  for  (as  he  afterwards  admitted),  which  stung  Jackson, 
who  snatched  up  a  pen,  wrote  a  pev'emptory  challenge  on  the 
blank  leaf  of  a  law  book  and  delivered  it  then  and  there  to 
Avery,  by  whom  it  was  promptly  accepted. 

In  my  search  after  the  facts,  made  years  ago,  among  the  old 
men  of  Washington  and  Sullivan  counties,  I  ascertained  that 
Jackson  fought  two  duels  at  Jonesboro.  When  I  began  my 
investigation,  I  had  never  heard  of  any  except  that  with  Col. 
Avery,  and  therefore,  when  asking  some  one  about  the  matter, 
I  would  say  something  to  this  effect:  "What  do  you  remember, 
or  what  have  you  heard,  about  Jackson's  duel  fought  at  Jones- 
boro? "  The  answer,  four  times  out  of  five,  would  be:  "Which 
one  do  you  mean — the  one  with  Avery,  or  the  one  fought  in 
the  hollow?  "  They  nearly  all  remembered  the  fact  that  there 
were  two  duels,  or  said  that  they  did ;  they  recollected  all  about 
the  duel  with  Avery,  and  that  it  was  fought  on  the  hill  on  the 
south  side  of  the  town  (not  on  the  north  side),  and  that  the 
other  one  was  fought  in  ' '  the  hollow "  (as  it  was  then  called) 
north  of  the  town;  but  they  could  not  recall  the  name  of  the 
man  with  whom  the  latter  duel  was  fought,  nor  the  cause  of  it. 
I  suggested  to  some  of  them  that  probably  there  was  no  duel 
fought  with  pistols  in  the  meadow  or  hollow,  but  that  it  must 
have  been  a  plain,  old-fashioned  fight  with  fists,  as  I  had  heard 
that  the  hollow  in  question  was  a  favorite  place  for  the  fisticuff 
champions  of  the  time  to  retire  to  and  ' '  fight  it  out  fair. "  This 
suggestion  was  invariably  met  with  ridicule  at  the  mere  idea  of 
Andrew  Jackson  fighting  with  anything  else  than  a  pistol,  a 


Jackson's  Duel  with  Avery.  113 

dirk  or  a  sword;  and  I  gave  up  the  duel  in  the  hollow  with 
much  regret  at  not  being  able  to  learn  anything  at  all  about  it, 
beyond  the  fact  that  Jackson  did  fight  one  there,  with  some  one 
whose  name  they  could  not  remember,  and  the  cause  of  which 
they  had  heard  but  could  not  recall. 

The  account  of  the  duel  between  Jackson  and  Aver}',  as  given 
me  and  as  I  heard  it  given  to  others,  twenty,  twenty-five  and  as 
far  back  as  thirty  years  ago,  by  very  old  native-born  citizens, 
agrees  in  the  following  particulars  with  that  given  by  others :  Jack- 
son and  Avery  were  opposing  counsel  in  a  suit  being  tried  in  the 
afternoon ;  the  case  was  going  apparently  against  Jackson's  view 
and  client ;  Jackson  was  exerting  himself  in  an  effort  to  escape 
from  authorities  relied  on  by  Avery ;  and  the  latter  did  ridicule 
severely  some  legal  position  taken  by  his  opponent.  If,  how- 
ever, the  account  given  me  be  a  ti'ue  one,  as  I  have  every  rea- 
son to  believe  that  it  is,  there  is  much  that  must  be  interlined 
in  or  added  to  the  foregoing,  although  it  can  be  done  briefly. 

Avery's  favorite  authority  was  "Bacon's  Abridgment. "  This 
he  carried  with  him  from  court  to  court,  and  from  the  tavern 
to  the  court  house  and  back.  It  was  always  in  his  ' '  green 
bag, "  and  the  latter,  when  not  in  his  saddle-bags,  was  in  his 
hand  or  swinging  from  his  arm.  The  book  was  carefully 
wrapped  up  in  a  piece  of  buckskin,  to  preserve  it  from  wear. 
Avery  quoted  from  and  referred  to  '• '  Bacon's  Abridgment "  in 
every  case  and  on  all  occasions,  and  of  course  had  done  so  on 
the  trial  of  the  case  out  of  which  grew  the  duel;  and  Jackson 
had  ridiculed  Avery's  pet  authority,  but  had  not  said  anything 
derogatory  to  his  opponent  as  a  lawyer  or  a  gentleman.  Avery, 
in  his  retort,  grew  sarcastic ;  he  not  only  criticised  legal  posi- 
tions taken  by  Jackson,  but  intimated  pretty  strongly  that  he 
did  not  know  anything  about  the  law  of  that  case  or  of  any 
other,  and  that  he  had  much  to  learn  before  he  would  be  justi- 
8 


114  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

fled  in  criticising  a  law  book  written  by  anyone.  This  was 
enough  to  inflame  Jackson,  and  it  did.  Jumping  to  his  feet, 
he  exclaimed :  "I  may  not  know  as  much  law  as  there  is  in 
Bacon's  Abridgment,  but  I  know  enough  not  to  take  illegal 
fees! "  Avery  at  once  turned  on  Jackson,  and  demanded  fiercely 
to  know  whether  he  meant  to  charge  him  with  taking  illegal 
fees.  Jackson  answered,  "I  do,  sir,"  and  started  to  say  more; 
but  Avery,  pointing  and  shaking  his  finger  at  his  adversary, 
hissed  through  his  teeth,  "It's  as  false  as  hell!"  whereupon 
Jackson  immediately  sat  down,  picked  up  a  law  book,  tore  a 
blank  leaf  from  it,  wrote  a  challenge,  delivered  it  to  Avery, 
bowed  to  him  ceremoniously,  and^walked  out  of  the  court  house. 
Avery  seated  himself,  wrote  an  acceptance  of  the  challenge, 
walked  out  of  the  court  house  and,  meeting  John  Adair,  re- 
quested him  to  act  as  his  second,  and  to  deliver  his  note  to 
Jackson.  The  latter,  in  the  mean  time,  had  met  a  friend, 
whom  he  asked  to  act  as  his  second,  and  to  whom  he  said  that 
he  did  not  wish  to  kill  Avery;  that  Avery  had  interrupted  him 
without  hearing  all  that  he  had  intended  to  say,  which  was  that 
he  (Avery)  had  taken  illegal  fees  because  of  his  ignorance  of 
the  latest  law  fixing  a  schedule  of  fees,  *  and  not  that  he  had 
done  so  corruptly ;  but  that  Avery's  manner  and  language  were 
such  as  to  prevent  this  intended  explanation,  which  he  could 
not  afford  to  make  afterward  without  the  probability  of  being 
suspected  of  fearing  Avery,  and  that  he  would  rather  be  killed 
by  his  antagonist  than  suspected  of  cowardice.  Jackson's  sec- 
ond (whose  name  I  was  never  able  to  ascertain)  unquestionably 
communicated  to  Adair,  during  the  subsequent  negotiations 
between  them  as  to  weapons,  etc. ,  the  substance  of  what  Jack- 
son had  said ;  and  the  two  seconds  determined  that  there  should 
be  no  duel  in  earnest,  or  "  shooting  to  kill,"  as  one  of  my  in- 
*Attorneys'  fees  were  then  fixed  by  statute,  in  both  civil  and  criminal  cases. 


Jackson's  Duel  with  Avery.  115 

formants  expressed  it.  This  agreement  must  have  been  com- 
municated to  both  principals,  before  they  left  the  town  for  the 
"  field  of  honor,"  as  subsequent  events  clearly  indicate. 

Difficulties  that  led  to  a  challenge  and  its  acceptance,  in  the 
olden  times,  were  rarely  ever  adjusted  before  the  combatants 
arrived  on  the  field.  The  distinguished  duellists  followed  the 
custom  on  this  occasion  ;  and,  with  their  seconds  and  others 
who  knew  of  the  affair,  went  to  the  ground  selected — the  hill 
on  the  south  side  of  Jonesboro,  and  not  "the  hollow"  north  of 
town.  The  distance  was  measured  off,  the  principals  stationed 
and  the  word  given — and  Jackson  and  Avery  both  fired  in  the 
air,  to  the  great  gratification  of  their  friends. 

The  two  principals  approached  each  other  with  extended 
hands.  While  holding  his  recent  antagonist  by  the  hand, 
Jackson  said  :  ' '  Col.  Avery,  I  knew  that,  if  I  hit  j'ou  and  did 
not  kill  you  immediately,  the  greatest  comfort  you  could  have 
in  3'our  last  moments  would  be  to  have  'Bacon's  Abridgment' 
near  you  ;  and  so  I  had  my  friend  bring  it  to  the  ground. " 
Thereupon,  Jackson's  second  unrolled  the  package  in  his  hand, 
which  was  about  the  size  of  a  law  book,  and  out  fell  a  piece  of 
old,  well-cured  hacon! 

Parton,  in  a  note  appended  to  his  account  of  the  duel,  says 
that  there  was  a  comic  incident  connected  with  it,  which  Jack- 
son would  not  tell  and  Adair  did  not.  The  version  here  given 
was  told  me  by  three  different  old  men,  in  Washington  countj^ 
years  ago.  They  were  Abram  Gregg,  Micajah  (or  Michael) 
Hodges  and  John  Fullmer,  each  of  whom  had  been  a  soldier 
in  the  war  of  1812,  Gregg  having  been,  I  believe,  a  captain. 
The  last  time  that  I  talked  with  Fullmer  and  Hodges  on  this 
subject  was  in  ]  879,  and  they  were  both  clear  in  their  recol- 
I  lection,  without  any  consultation  with  each  other,  residing  in 


116         Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History, 

diflferent  parts  of  the  county,  Fullmer  on  the  Watauga  river 
and  Hodges  on  the  Holston,  eight  miles  distant.* 

The  foregoing  version  of  this  duel  is  supported  by  the  old 
court  records  at  Jonesboro.  Years  ago  I  read  and  copied 
therefrom  the  following  entry  :  *  <  Waightsell  Avery  having  for 
want  of  Acts  of  Assembly  Crept  into  an  Error  in  Taking  Two 
pounds  instead  of  One  pound  Six  Shillings  and  Eight  pence 
Was  by  the  Court  freely  Pardoned  at  his  Own  Request."  It 
is  also  borne  out  by  the  fact  that,  when  Jackson  was  President, 
this  duel  was  mentioned  to  him  by  Samuel  P.  Carron,  then  a 
member  of  Congress  from  the  district  in  North  Carolina  in 
which  Col.  Avery  died,  whereupon  the  President,  according  to 
Parton,  asked  Carron,  "Who  told  you  about  it?"  "Gen. 
Adair, "  was  the  answer.  ' '  Did  he  tell  you  what  happened  on 
the  ground?"  "No."  "Well,  then,  I  sha'n't,"  said  Jack- 
son, laughing.  This  would  indicate  that  the  duel  had  had 
some  comic  ending,  and  not  a  comical  beginning. 

The  other  version  of  the  duel,  which  I  never  heard  in  upper 
East  Tennessee,  agrees  with  the  one  before  given,  except  in  the 
following  particulars.  It  was  said  that,  in  the  course  of  the 
trial,  Jackson  was  rather  getting  the  best  of  Avery,  and  as  it 
was  near  adjourning  time,  and  Col.  Avery,  strange  to  say,  had 
forgotten  his  green  bag  with  "Bacon's  Abridgment"  in  it, 
when  returning  from  dinner,  he  said  to  the  court  that  he  would 
produce  next  morning  the  authority  in  support  of  his  position ; 
that  Bacon's  Abridgment  would  show  how  little  the  opposing 
counsel  knew  about  the  law  in  the  case,  etc.  Next  morning, 
Jackson  went  into  Avery's  room  during  the  latter's  absence, 

*Hodge8  died  in  June,  1881,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six.  Fullmer  died  in  November, 
1883,  ninety  years  old.  Gregg  was  much  older  than  either  of  the  others,  and  died 
early  in  the  seventies,  a  very  old  man.  There  were  living  in  the  Boon's  creek  civil 
district  of  Washington  county,  after  the  close  of  the  late  war,  as  many  as  seven  old 
gentlemen  who  had  been  soldiers  in  the  war  of  1812,  besides  others  then  living  in 
different  parts  of  the  county. 


Jackson's  Duel  with  Avery.  117 

took  the  "Abridgment"  out  of  the  green  bag,  and  substituted 
a  piece  of  bacon  about  the  size  of  the  book,  wrapped  first  in 
paper  and  then  in  the  buckskin  which  Avery  used  as  a  wrapper 
for  his  precious  volume.  When  Avery  came  into  court  with 
his  green  bag,  and  proceeded  to  produce  his  authority,  out 
tumbled  the  piece  of  bacon,  in  the  presence  of  the  court  and 
the  lawyers,  as  well  as  the  spectators  who  had  been  invited  to 
witness  the  fun.  This  practical  joke  so  incensed  Avery  that 
he  challenged  Jackson  on  the  spot ;  the  challenge  was  accepted, 
and  the  combatants  immediately  proceeded  to  the  duelling- 
ground,  fired  at  each  other,  both  missing,  whereupon  each  ex- 
pressed himself  satisfied,  and  the  affair  ended.  This  latter 
version  does  not  accord  with  what  Jackson  said  to  Carron  about 
the  comic  incident,  when  he  asked  if  Adair  had  told  him  what 
happened  on  the  ground — not  at  the  court  house  or  before  the 
duel. 

I  gathered  from  the  old  men  alluded  to  above  that  public 
sentiment,  as  they  understood,  was  rather  with  Avery  at  the 
time  of  the  duel,  as  the  people  had  more  confidence  in  his  law 
knowledge  than  that  of  "young  Jackson;"  but  they  all  be- 
lieved both  of  them  to  be  brave  and  honest,  although  Jackson 
was  "a  little  too  fractious." 

Did  Jackson  fight  another  duel  at  Jonesboro?  I  do  not 
know;  but  it  is  certain  that  the  three  old  gentlemen  whom  I 
have  named,  as  well  as  others,  asserted  most  positively  that  he 
did.  When  asked  whom  the  duel  was  fought  with,  when  it  oc- 
curred, what  caused  it,  etc.,  they  could  not  remember;  but 
they  all  agreed  that  the  affair  took  place  in  the  ' '  long  meadow, " 
as  it  was  then  called  (formerly  the  "hollow"),  on  the  north 
side  of  town,  and  they  all  asserted  that  the  duel  with  Avery 
was  fought  on  the  hill  on  the  south  side.  Capt.  Abram  Gregg 
was  of  the  opinion  that  the  duel  occurred  in  the  year  after 


118         Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

Jackson  came  to  Jonesboro,  which  would  fix  it  in  1789.  He 
said  that  Jackson  hit  his  man,  but  he  was  not  seriously  wounded, 
and  soon  recovered  and  left  the  community ;  that  Jackson  was 
not  touched.  It  can  be  seen  from  this  statement  how  the  facts 
of  the  duel  might  have  been  forgotten,  if  it  took  place,  as  the 
other  party  to  it  left  the  country  soon  afterward,  whereas  Col. 
Avery  continued  to  attend  the  courts  of  the  county  for  years 
after  his  duel  with  Jackson.  This  would  naturally  keep  the 
matter  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  although  Jackson  left 
the  county  permanently  about  October  or  November,  1790. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ANDREW  JACKSON,  DEPUTY  SHERIFF  AND  FIREMAN. 

RUSSELL  BEAN  was  not  distinguished  alone  because  he  was 
the  first  white  child  born  within  the  limits  of  what  is  to- 
day the  state  of  Tennessee:  he  was  said  to  have  been  the 
most  perfect  specimen  of  manhood  in  the  whole  country,  with- 
out an  equal  for  strength,  activity  and  physical  endurance,  and 
absolutely  devoid  of  fear.  He  was  a  genius,  also:  he  was  a 
gunsmith  by  trade,  and  it  was  said  that  he  could  make  more 
implements  of  war  and  other  things  of  utility,  with  fewer  tools, 
than  any  other  man  ever  known  in  that  day  and  country.  He 
went  to  Connecticut,  soon  after  he  reached  manhood,  and 
brought  back  with  him  to  the  western  world  a  supply  of  what 
were  then  modern  tools  and  supplies,  with  which  he  established 
a  kind  of  manufactory  of  arms,  etc. 

Bean  had  a  flat-bottomed  boat  built  under  his  directions,  and 
with  a  cargo  of  arms  of  his  manufacture,  consisting  of  rifles, 
pistols,  dirks,  etc. ,  he  went  alone  down  the  Nolichucky  to  the 
Tennessee,  thence  to  the  Ohio,  and  down  the  Mississippi  to  New 
Orleans,  where  he  remained  for  about  two  years,  engaged  in  foot 
races,  horse  racing,  cock-fighting  and  other  sports  of  the  times 
in  that  then  great  city.  On  returning  to  Jonesboro,  he  found 
his  wife — who  was  a  daughter  of  Col.  Charles  Roberson,  and 
had  borne  him  several  children-— nursing  an  infant.  Her 
seducer,  it  was  said,  was  a  merchant  of  the  town  named  Allen. 
Bean  left  the  house  without  a  word,  got  drunk,  came  back, 
took  the  baby  out  of  the  cradle,  and  deliberately  cut  off  both 
its  ears  close  up  to  its  head,  saying  that  he  ' '  had  marked  it 
so  that  it  would  not  get  mixed  up  with  his  children. "     He  was 


120         Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

arrested  and,  court  being  in  session,  he  was  tried  and  convicted 
of  this  act  of  inhuman  cruelty,  and  sentenced,  in  addition  to 
other  punishment,  to  be  branded  in  the  palm  of  the  hand. 
This  was  done ;  whereupon  he  immediately  bit  out  of  his  hand 
the  part  containing  the  brand,  and  spat  it  upon  the  ground. 
He  was  also  imprisoned,  but  soon  escaped  from  jail,  and  was 
allowed  to  remain  at  large,  for  the  reason  that  the  officers  were 
afraid  of  him.  His  wife  soon  got  a  divorce  from  him;  but  he 
was  determined  to  kill  Allen,  and  it  was  known  that  on  several 
occasions  he  had  secretly  watched  for  him.  Failing  to  get  a 
chance  at  Allen,  who  was  really  in  hiding,  Bean  sought  a  diffi- 
culty with  Allen's  brother,  whom  he  assaulted  and  beat  unmer- 
cifully. For  this  he  was  indicted;  but,  up  to  the  time  that 
court  met  with  Jackson  on  the  bench,  the  officers  had  not  been 
able  to  arrest  him,  or  at  all  events  they  had  not  arrested  him. 
They  reported  to  Judge  Jackson  that  they  could  not  take  Bean ; 
that  he  was  out  at  his  cabin,  on  the  south  side  of  the  town, 
armed,  sitting  constantly,  when  at  home,  in  the  door,  with  his 
rifle  by  his  side  and  his  pistols  in  his  lap,  defying  arrest  and 
threatening  to  kill  the  first  man  who  approached  his  house. 
Such  was  the  report  made  in  open  court  to  Judge  Jackson,  who 
immediately  ordered:  "Summon  every  man  in  the  court  house, 
and  bring  Bean  in  here  dead  or  alive. "  Thereupon  the  sheriff, 
with  a  grim  humor  which  does  him  infinite  credit,  responded, 
"Then  I  summ'on  your  honor  first ! "  Jackson  at  once  left  the 
bench,  exclaiming,  "By  the  Eternal,  I'll  bring  him  !" — and  he 
did.  He  found  Bean  sitting  in  his  door,  as  described  by  the 
officers.  Jackson  approached,  pistol  in  hand,  followed  by  the 
crowd  at  a  respectful  distance.  When  he  got  within  shooting 
distance.  Bean  arose,  called  out,  "I'll  surrender  to  you,  Mr. 
Devil!"  and  laid  down  his  arms.  Jackson  took  him  to  the 
court  room,  where  he  was  tried  and  fined  heavily. 


Andrew  Jackson,  Deputy  Sheriff  and  Fireman.  121 

This  is  the  story  of  the  Bean  incident,  as  always  told  by  the 
old  people  in  Washington  county.  Russell  Bean  was  a  man 
of  fine  appearance  and  engaging  manners.  He  was  not  only  a 
genius,  but  he  was  "well  read"  for  that  era,  and  had  picked  up, 
on  his  trip  to  Connecticut  and  at  New  Orleans,  a  great  deal  of 
information  with  reference  to  other  nations  and  their  affairs. 
He  could  have  been  a  leader,  but  for  some  infirmities  and 
peculiarities. 

When  Parton  was  preparing  his  life  of  Jackson,  some  one 
gave  him  the  information  that  Col.  Charles  Roberson,  Bean's 
father-in-law,  was  "an  illiterate  old  man,  who  had  fought 
under  Sevier  at  King's  Mountain  and  made  campaigns  against 
the  Indians."  This  statement,  unqualified,  does  Col.  Roberson 
injustice.  He  was  one  of  the  heroes  of  King's  Mountain,  and 
had  engaged  in  many  campaigns  against  the  Indians.  He  was 
not  an  educated  man,  but  the  various  responsible  positions  to 
which  he  was  appointed,  including  that  of  chairman  of  the 
Court  of  Pleas  and  Quarter  Sessions,  according  to  early  records 
at  Jonesboro,  and  speaker  of  the  Senate  in  the  last  General 
Assembly  of  the  State  of  Franklin,  1787,  testify  to  his  intelli- 
gence, as  well  as  the  esteem  and  confidence  in  which  he  was 
held  by  his  countrymen. 

Bean's  divorced  wife  married  again,  and  moved  to  Knoxville, 
where  the  unfortunate  child  died,  as  did  also  her  second  hus- 
band. In  the  course  of  a  few  years,  Bean  himself  drifted  to 
Knoxville,  where  Jackson  met  him  and,  it  is  said,  brought 
about  a  reconciliation  between  him  and  his  former  wife.  They 
were  remarried,  and  lived  happily  until  the  death  of  Bean. 

Parton  fixes  the  date  of  the  fire  incident  at  Jonesboro  at  the 
time  of  the  Bean  incident — after  Jackson  had  been  appointed 
judge.  The  date  is  not  material,  but  Parton's  information 
must  have  been  incorrect,  or  the  date  of  the  fire  incident,  as 


122         Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

recollected  and  given  by  aged  persons  who  remembered  it  and 
recounted  it  as  late  as  twenty  years  ago,  was  wrong.  Accord- 
ing to  these  old  citizens,  the  fire  in  which  Jackson  distinguished 
himself  was  in  1798,  while  he  was  stopping  in  Jonesboro 
on  his  way  to  Nashville  from  Philadelphia,  after  he  had  re- 
signed the  position  of  United  States  Senator.  Court  was  in 
session,  however,  when  the  fire  occurred,  as  stated  by  Parton, 
and  Jackson  was  there  mingling  with  his  friends.  He  had 
been  there  for  a  few  days  previous  to  the  fire,  and  continued 
his  stay  in  town  for  a  few  days  afterward.  He  was  not  stop- 
ping at  the  tavern,  but  was  the  guest  of  one  of  the  families. 

The  fire  originated,  near  midnight,  in  the  stable  that  be- 
longed to  and  was  near  the  Rawlings  tavern.  It  was  soon  in  a 
blaze  throughout,  and  there  was  no  thought  of  an  effort  to  save 
it,  as  it  was  filled  with  hay,  oats,  fodder,  etc.  Attention  was 
turned  to  the  tavern,  which  stood  some  two  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  from  a  creek  which  runs  through  the  center  of  the  town. 
The  alarm  of  fire  and  the  call  for  help  brought  out  the  entire 
population,  filling  the  few  streets  of  the  village  with  men, 
women  and  children.  When  Jackson  appeared  on  the  scene, 
Ben  Boyd,  an  Irish  coppersmith,  was  calling  loudly  for  buckets 
and  yelling  to  the  crowd  to  form  a  line  to  the  creek ;  but  nobody 
was  paying  any  attention  to  him.  Jackson,  as  was  his  custom, 
immediately  took  command,  and  began  ordering  everybody  to 
get  into  line,  actually  taking  hold  of  men  and  women  and  put- 
ting them  in  position,  calling  for  buckets,  and  directing  the 
keeper  of  the  tavern  to  get  all  of  the  blankets  in  the  house  and 
spread  them  all  over  the  roof.  In  a  few  minutes  Jackson  had 
formed  two  lines  from  the  house  to  the  creek,  the  lines  facing 
each  other  and  six  or  eight  feet  apart;  along  one  line  empty 
buckets  were  passed  to  the  creek,  and  the  full  buckets  back  up 
the  other  line  to  the  tavern,  which  was  the  only  house  in  imme- 


Andrew  Jackson,  Deputy  Sheriff  and  Fireman.  123 

diate  danger.  Jackson  would  appear,  one  moment,  on  the 
roof,  calling  down  to  those  in  the  lines  to  stand  firm  and  hurry 
up  the  water,  and  the  tavern  and  town  would  be  saved ;  the  next 
seen  of  him,  he  would  be  passing  up  and  down  the  lines,  urging 
order  and  discipline.  He  was  everywhere,  and  always  at  the 
place  where  his  presence  seemed  most  needed.  The  tavern  was 
saved,  and  nothing  burned  but  the  stable.  "Jackson  saved 
the  town  with  his  bucket  brigade,"  was  on  every  lip. 

Parton  brings  Benjamin  Boyd  to  the  attention  of  the  nation, 
in  connection  with  this  fire  incident,  by  saying  that,  "while 
Gen.  Jackson  was  strengthening  that  part  of  his  line  near  the 
creek,  a  drunken  coppersmith  named  Boyd,  who  said  that  he 
had  seen  fires  at  Baltimore,  began  to  give  orders  and  annoy 
persons  in  the  line.  Jackson  shouted  at  Boyd  to  fall  in  line, 
who  continued  jabbering.  Jackson  seized  a  bucket  by  the 
handle,  knocked  him  down,  and  walked  along  the  line  giving 
orders  as  coolly  as  before."  Ben  Boyd's  part  in  and  connec- 
tion with  the  fire  incident,  as  detailed  to  me  "often  and  again" 
by  persons  who  knew  all  the-facts,  does  not  agree  with  Parton's 
account  in  some  particulars.  What  is  believed  to  be  the  true 
narrative  is  here  given. 

Benjamin  Boyd  was  an  Irishman,  as  was  Andrew  Jackson. 
He  was  a  coppersmith  by  trade,  got  drunk  occasionally,  and 
was  drunk  on  the  night  of  the  fire.  He  was  somewhat  cha- 
grined at  the  idea  of  Jackson  appropriating  his  suggestion  of 
a  bucket-line  to  the  creek;  and  after  Jackson  had  succeeded 
in  doing  what  he  could  not  do,  and,  as  Boyd  said,  was  "strut- 
ting around  giving  orders, "  the  two  men  met  near  the  creek. 
Boyd  said  to  Jackson,  "I  have  seen  and  fought  fires  in  Phila- 
delphia before  you  were  born,"  and  continued  to  growl  at 
Jackson,  who  ordered  him  to  ' '  get  in  line  or  get  out  of  the 
way."     Boyd,   who  was  a  fearless  man,   made  some  insolent 


124         Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History, 

reply,  when  Jackson,  seizing  a  bucket  of  water,  threw  its  con- 
tents on  the  irate  Irishman,  and  passed  along  the  line,  leaving 
Boyd  swearing,  "By  the  Holy  Virgin,  I'll  whip  you  before 
you  leave  this  town!"  John  Chester,  with  whom  Boyd  lived 
and  died  at  Jonesboro,  made  him  go  to  his  little  house,  which 
stood  in  the  comer  of  Chester's  yard;  and  this  ended  the 
matter.  * 

'  'Jackson's  bucket  brigade  "  has  often  saved  property  in  the 
ancient  town,  within  the  century,  now  almost  rounded  out, 
that  followed  its  organization  and  first  service. 

*  My  greatgrandfather,  Robert  Johnston  Chester,  brought  Benjamin  Boyd  from 

Limerick,  Ireland,  to  America.  My  grandfather,  John  (Chester,  brought  him  from 
Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  to  Jonesboro,  in  December,  1796.  Boyd  was  then  an  old 
man.  I  am  the  possessor  of  one  of  Boyd's  books,  an  "Arithmetick,"  "  printed  in 
Belfast,  Ireland,  by  James  Magee,  at  the  Bible  and  Crown,  Bridge  street,"  in  1775. 


CHAPTER  X. 

ANDBEW  JACKSON,   THE  MAN. 

ANDREW  JACKSON  was  a  more  courageous  man,  as  well 
as  a  much  greater  man,  than  many  of  his  most  ardent 
admirers  knew  of.  At  the  time  of  his  duel  with  Avery, 
if  the  version  which  I  believe  to  be  true  is  correct,  he 
was  afraid  of  public  opinion — that  is,  he  believed  that,  if  he 
made  an  explanation,  somebody  might  think  that  he  feared 
Avery,  and  so,  rather  than  run  the  risk  of  being  suspected  of 
cowardice,  he  was  willing  to  give  Avery  a  chance  to  kill  him. 
But  later  in  life  he  had  outgrown  this,  and  had  no  master  ex- 
cept his  con\ictions  of  duty,  his  own  sense  of  right  and  wrong. 
He  did  not  care  what  anybody  might  believe  or  suspect  him  of, 
so  long  as  his  course  had  the  approval  of  his  judgment  and  his 
conscience. 

This  was  established  beyond  doubt,  in  the  minds  of  a  few 
old  gentlemen  (who  afterward  learned  the  actual  facts),  by  an 
incident  which  happened  in  1832 — probably  in  the  early  part 
of  October — at  the  public  house  or  tavern  kept  by  Capt.  Bell 
at  Bean's  Station,  in  Grainger  county.  President  Jackson  had 
left  Washington,  in  the  early  part  of  August,  1832,  in  company 
with  Francis  P.  Blair  and  others,  to  visit  the  Hermitage;  and 
the  incident  about  to  be  related  occurred  on  the  return  trip  to 
Washington.  Before  leaving  the  Hermitage,  the  itinefery  or 
schedule  of  travel  and  stopping-places  on  the  route  had  been 
made  out.  Bell's  tavern  had  been  fixed  upon  as  a  point  for 
dinner  and  rest,  and  Capt.  Bell  had  been  notified  of  the  date. 
Bell  had  been  a  friend  and  admirer  of  Jackson  for  many  years, 


126         Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

and  he  and  his  wife  naturally  made  great  preparations  to  re- 
ceive and  entertain  the  President  and  his  accompanying  friends. 
Quite  a  number  of  leading  citizens,  acquaintances  and  adher- 
ents of  Jackson,  who  had  been  apprised  of  the  day  he  would 
arrive,  were  on  hand  to  greet  their  old  fnend  and  leader,  the 
President  of  the  United  States. 

The  party  arrived  on  time,  and  the  President's  carriage 
stopped  in  the  public  road  in  front  of  the  tavern,  which  stood 
at  some  little  distance  back  from  the  highway.  Capt.  Bell 
and  others  were  at  the  carriage  door  to  receive  President  Jack- 
son, who  got  out  immediately  and  "shook  hands  all  round." 
Bell,  however,  observed  that  Jackson,  with  an  ominous  storm- 
cloud  gathering  on  his  face,  was  looking  intently  toward  a 
broad  porch  which  extended  along  the  front  of  the  tavern,  his 
eyes  evidently  fixed  upon  a  gentleman  who  was  walking  back 
and  forth  on  this  porch,  and  who  was  evidently  in  turn  eyeing 
Jackson  with  equal  intensity.  Suddenly,  Jackson  turned  to- 
ward the  conveyances  which  were  accompanying  him  with 
friends,  some  of  whom  had  already  gotten  out,  and  said, 
"Don't  get  out — we  will  not  take  dinner  here. "  Then,  turn- 
ing to  Capt.  Bell,  he  said,  "I  regret  that  I  can't  stop,  rest 
awhile  and  take  dinner  with  you.  Tell  Mrs.  Bell  that  I  could 
not  stop."  The  latter  remark  was  made  in  an  undertone  to 
Capt.  Bell,  after  which  President  Jackson  got  into  his  carriage 
and  ordered  his  driver  to  go  on,  and  his  friends  followed. 

Capt.  Bell's  curiosity  was  as  great  as  his  disappointment  at 
the  turn  things  had  taken.  He  did  not  know  what  had  caused 
it,  but  suspected  that  the  presence  of  the  gentleman  walking 
on  the  porch  had  something,  if  not  everything,  to  do  with  it. 
This  gentleman  had  only  stopped  for  dinner,  and  left  immedi- 
ately after  it  was  over,  without  alluding  to  the  Jackson  inci- 
dent.    Indeed,  no  one  then  knew  whether  or  not  he  knew  who 


Andrew  Jackson,  the  Man.  127 

Jackson  was;  but  Capt.  Bell,  during  the  hour  or  so  that  he 
remained,  learned  what  afterward  proved  to  be  three  important 
facts — the  name  of  the  gentleman,  that  he  was  from  North 
Carolina,  and  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  Kentucky.  At  that 
time,  the  thoroughfare  from  all  East  Tennessee,  North  Caro- 
lina, South  Carolina  and  Georgia  was  by  way  of  Bean's  Station 
through  Cumberland  Gap  to  Kentucky. 

Some  months  later,  Capt.  Bell  learned  that  the  gentleman 
in  question  was  one  of  President  Jackson's  most  bitter  and  un- 
relenting enemies ;  that  he  was  in  fact  the  leader  of  the  oppo- 
sition to  Jackson  in  North  Carolina;  that  he  had  made  public 
speeches  in  North  Carolina  and  elsewhere  against  him,  in  the 
campaigns  of  1824  and  1828,  and  was  then  (1832)  most  active 
in  his  opposition ;  and  that  he  was  at  that  time  probably  on  his 
way  to  Kentucky  to  consult  with  Jackson's  opponents  in  that 
state.  He,  as  Bell  afterwards  learned,  had  rehashed  in  his 
public  speeches  all  the  slanders  which  had  been  invented  against 
Jackson,  including  no  doubt  the  one  which  had  cost  Dickinson 
his  life  in  1806.  After  learning  these  facts,  Capt.  Bell  said 
that  he  well  knew  the  terrific  struggle  which  Jackson  had  then 
and  there,  to  control  the  storm  rising  within  his  breast  as  he 
saw,  within  a  few  yards  of  him,  a  hated  foe  who  had  commit- 
ted a  crime  which,  in  Jackson's  judgment,  ought  to  bar  him 
out  of  heaven.  But  Bell's  idea  was  that  Jackson — the  man 
with  a  temper  like  a  tornado,  and  whose  very  nature,  as  some 
professed  to  believe,  was  nothing  but  a  raging  torrent  of  fury — 
said  to  himself,  "  I  am  President  of  the  United  States ;  and  I 
can  not  afford  to  bring  reproach  upon  the  people  who  elected 
me,  or  to  degrade  the  highest  office  on  earth  by  a  scene,  or  a 
difficulty  with  that  man,  which  is  certain  to  follow  if  I  stop 
here  " ;  and  he  therefore  immediately  got  into  his  carriage,  and 
left  without  any  explanation  except  the  words  given  above. 


128  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

When  Gapt.  Bell  met  Jackson  again,  a  few  years  afterward, 
no  explanation  was  necessary — he  knew  all. 

Capt.  Bell's  son,  who  as  a  young  man  was  present  when  the 
incident  occurred,  is  authority  for  the  account  given  above, 
and  for  his  father's  views  and  recollections  of  it.  So  far  as  I 
know,  it  has  not  been  published  hitherto. 

Those  who  knew  Andrew  Jackson  would  agree  with  Bell 
that  it  took  a  superhuman  eflfort  even  to  remember,  at  the  mo- 
ment, that  he  was  President  of  the  United  States,  and  to  con- 
trol the  passion  that  the  sight  of  this  man  aroused  in  him ;  but 
he  did  it,  and,  in  doing  it,  proved  himself  a  greater  man,  if 
possible,  than  many  of  his  friends  ever  believed  him  to  be. 
The  struggle  that  the  President  of  the  United  States  had  with 
Andrew  Jackson,  on  this  occasion,  can  better  be  understood 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  man  walking  on  the  porch  had 
repeated  statements  which,  it  is  said,  was  the  origin  of  Jack- 
son's trouble  with  Sevier  and  others,  and  which  also  caused 
Jackson,  in  his  duel  with  Dickinson,  after  the  latter  had  fired 
and  hit  him,  to  place  his  left  hand  tightly  on  the  spot  where 
the  ball  had  entered,  take  deliberate  aim  with  the  other  hand 
and  pull  the  trigger;  and  then,  when  the  weapon  failed  to  fire, 
the  hammer  having  caught  at  the  half-cock  notch,  to  examine 
it  carefully,  recock  it,  aim  carefully  again,  and  fire  again — this 
time  to  see  his  enemy  fall  mortally  wounded,  dying  in  a  few 
moments  afterward.  Jackson's  act  at  Bean's  Station,  in  leav- 
ing abruptly  the  presence  of  a  calumniator  of  the  memory  of 
the  wife  whom  he  had  worshipped  in  life,  and  at  the  very  men- 
tion of  whose  name  after  her  death  tears  came  into  his  eyes 
and  a  tremor  in  his  voice,  was  an  exhibition  of  courage  and 
self-control  showing  greatness  in  a  direction  and  to  a  degree 
not  often  met  with  in  the  very  greatest  of  great  men. 

On  this  same  journey  from  Washington  to  the  Hermitage,  in 


Andrew  Jackson,  the  Man.  129 

1832,  President  Jackson  was  given  an  ovation  and  reception 
which,  it  is  believed,  was  the  most  pleasing  and  gratifying  to 
him  of  any  of  the  numerous  public  demonstrations  of  popular 
esteem  theretofore  shown  him.  This  affair  had  its  beginning 
four  miles  northeast  of  Jonesboro,  on  the  public  highway — the 
old  state  road — on  each  side  of  which,  at  the  point  mentioned, 
was  an  old-fashioned  crooked  rail  fence,  and  also  large  oak  and 
other  native  forest  trees.  It  was  in  the  latter  part  of  August,  or 
early  in  September,  and  the  day  was  an  ideal  one.  The  road 
was  on  and  along  the  top  of  a  high  ridge,  with  the  Iron  Mount- 
ain in  plain  view  across  the  valley  to  the  south.  At  this  point, 
the  President  was  met  by  one  hundred  picked  men,  uniformed, 
and  mounted  on  a  hundred  of  the  very  finest  dapple-grey  sad- 
dle horses  that  could  be  found  in  the  country,  to  escort  him 
into  Jonesboro.  This  column  of  horsemen  was  under  com- 
mand of  Samuel  Greer,  a  life-long  friend  of  Jackson.  As  it 
approached  the  carriage  of  the  President,  who  had  had  no  inti- 
mation of  its  approach,  and  got  within  about  a  hundred  feet,  a 
hundred  stentorian  voices  simultaneously  shouted:  "Three 
cheers  for  Andrew  Jackson,  the  greatest  man  on  earth!"  and 
the  cheers  which  followed  made  the  welkin  ring  and  woke  the 
echoes  of  three  commonwealths. 

The  carriage  was  pulled  to  the  right  of  the  road,  under  the 
shade  of  a  large  oak  (which  was  still  standing  as  late  as  1884), 
and  the  President  alighted,  removing  his  hat  as  he  did  so,  and 
bowing  three  several  times  to  the  horsemen.  This  act  of 
course  caused  another  burst  of  applause.  When  quiet  was 
restored,  the  column,  at  the  command  of  Greer,  dismounted 
and  passed  to  the  rear,  where  he  introduced  each  one  to  the 
President.  It  is  said  that  the  latter,  in  as  many  as  forty  or 
more  instances,  while  holding  some  young  man  by  the  hand, 

would  tell  him  who  his  mother  was  before  her  marriage,  what 
9 


130  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

his  father's  given  name  was,  and  in  what  part  of  the  county  he 
had  lived — whether  on  Watauga,  Nolichucky  or  Holston  river, 
or  on  Limestone,  Cherokee,  Boon's,  Brush  or  Knob  creek. 
After  this,  Jackson  turned  in  the  direction  of  the  Iron  Mount- 
ain, and  as  he  pointed  to  it,  said  in  substance :  ' '  Forty-four 
years  ago  last  spring,  I  crossed  that  mountain,  and  settled,  as 
I  then  thought,  in  this  country  permanently,  amongst  your 
fathers  and  ancestors ;  but  Pro^^dence  had  decreed  that  I 
should  not  spend  my  life  in  this  particular  part  of  our  great 
state,  and  took  me  elsewhere.  Every  time,  for  the  last  few 
days,  that  my  carriage  has  been  where  I  could  see  that  mount- 
ain, I  have  been  looking  out  at  it,  and  letting  my  mind  run 
back  over  my  stormy  and  eventful  life;  and,  at  the  moment 
you  approached  and  gave  me  the  first  notice  I  had  of  your 
coming  by  your  cheers  and  applause,  I  was  thinking  of  whom 
I  would  meet  and  whom  I  would  miss  of  my  old  friends  at  the 
old  town  just  ahead  of  us,  where  I  began  life.  I  wish  to  say, 
before  we  resume  the  journey  to  the  town,  that  in  all  my  career 
I  have  not  been  the  recipient  of  a  demonstration  more  greatly 
appreciated  than  this  one,  here  under  the  old  trees,  in  this  old 
road  that  I  used  to  travel  so  often,  by  the  sons  of  my  old 
friends  and'  acquaintances. "  Then,  with  Greer  and  ten  of  the 
escort  some  little  distance  in  front  of  the  carriage,  and  ninety 
in  the  rear,  the  journey  was  resumed.  It  was  understood 
throughout  the  country  that  Jackson  would  arrive  in  Jonesboro. 
that  afternoon,  and  also  that  he  would  spend  the  next  day  in 
the  old  town.  This  had  brought  thousands  of  people  to  Jones- 
boro; men,  women  and  children  came,  on  foot,  on  horseback 
and  in  every  kind  of  vehicle.  There  was  no  way  to  house  and 
feed  the  multitude  that  had  arrived  and  filled  the  town  when 
Jackson  reached  it  late  in  the  afternoon.  The  sides  of  the 
road  were  lined  with  people  for  a  mile  outside  the  town,  the 


Andrew  Jackson,  the  Man.  131 

streets  were  packed,  the  tops  of  many  of  the  houses  were  cov- 
ered, and  the  President  was  received  with  waving  of  hats,  bon- 
nets, aprons,  handkerchiefs  and  improvised  flags  and  with 
shouts  from  the  multitude,  from  the  time  he  came  in  sight 
until  he  got  out  of  his  carriage  and  went  into  the  hotel. 

The  hotel  at  which  he  stopped  was  on  the  main  street^  and 
had  a  broad  porch  that  extended  the  full  length  of  the  house. 
This  was  about  eight  or  ten  feet  high,  projecting  out  over  the 
sidewalk,  and  was  reached  by  a  stairway  at  each  end.  On  the 
following  day,  the  President  held  a  reception  on  this  porch, 
and  there  shook  hands  with  all  of  the  people  who  had  assem- 
bled to  see  him,  they  passing  up  at  one  end  of  the  porch  and 
down  at  the  other.  On  this  porch,  on  this  day,  was  dispelled 
from  the  minds  of  some  of  his  friends  every  vestige  of  the 
slight  suspicion  which  had  been  produced  by  vile  hired  slander- 
ers, that  his  fierce  nature,  turbulent  spirit  and  stormy  life  had 
sapped  his  mental  powers,  judgment  and  reason,  and  that  he 
was  no  longer  the  real  Andrew  Jackson  of  New  Orleans,  but 
was  surrounded  and  controlled  by  designing,  unscrupulous 
scoundrels,  who  were  feeding  the  vanity  of  the  old  man  in  his 
dotage  on  flattery  which  he  was  then  unable  to  detect  and  re- 
sist. President  Jackson  stood  on  the  hotel  porch  at  Jones- 
boro,  and,  possibly  at  the  very  moment  when  public  speakers 
and  editors  in  other  parts  of  the  country  were  lamenting(?) 
the  loss  of  his  former  "energy  of  character"  and  the  decay  of 
his  mind  and  judgment,  gave  to  those  people  the  very  ^highest 
evidence  that  he  was  the  Andrew  Jackson  of  old:  his  form, 
although  he  was  sixty-five  years  old,  was  ' '  straight  as  a  gun- 
barrel,"  and  his  eyes  as  flashing  and  his  mind  as  clear  as  on 
the  night  of  the  fire,  or  on  the  day  when  he  left  the  bench  and 
arrested  Russell  Bean,  in  that  very  town.  As  his  old  friends 
would  approach  him  in  their  plain  and  simple  garb,  with  their 


132         Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

wives  and  children,  *  he  would  call  out  their  names,  grasp  their 
hands,  put  an  arm  around  them,  kiss  their  daughters,  compli- 
ment their  younger  children,  and  tell  the  wife  that  the  good- 
looking  boys  and  girls  "favored  her"  more  than  they  did  the 
father.  Incidents  of  his  early  life  would  suggest  themselves 
to  his  mind — a  lawsuit,  a  fox  chase,  a  deer  drive  or  something 
else — as  they  came  up,  and  he  would  refer  to  it  in  some  way, 
in  the  few  moments  which  he  could  spare  to  that  particular  in- 
dividual. His  famous  horse-race  with  Col.  Love  in  Greasy 
Cove  was  mentioned ;  and  it  came  very  near  bringing  down  the 
porch  when  a  kinsman  of  Col.  Love,  by  the  same  name,  grasped 
the  old  hero  by  the  hand  and  asked  him  if  he  had  any  better 
race  horses  at  the  Hermitage  than  he  had  when  he  lived  in  that 
country ;  to  which  he  promptlj"^  and  laughingly  replied :  ' '  Yes, 
better  than  either  one  of  us  had  that  day;  come  over  to  the 
Hermitage,  and  you  shall  have  one."  Such  were  the  scenes 
and  incidents  of  that  memorable  day  on  the  hotel  porch  in  the 
historic  old  town  of  Joriesboro.  t 

The  ''bank  conspirators,"  as  they  were  called,  had  been  at 
work  incessantly,  and  they  had  a  few — a  very  few — helpers  in 
that  country,  who  had  been  furnished  with  and  had  repeated 

•  During  the  progress  of  this  reception,  on  the  porch  of  the  old  Chester  Hotel,  a 
lady — an  old  friend  and  admirer  of  Jackson — came  up  to  him,  and  after  a  cordial 
greeting,  she  presented  her  little  son  and  namesake  of  the  President.  President 
Jackson  was  so  impressed  with  the  manner  and  appearance  of  the  little  fellow,  that 
he  gave  him  a  "  five-dollar  gold  piece."  This  little  fellow  grew  up  to  manhood,  be- 
came a  teacher  and  then  a  lawyer.  During  the  late  war  he  was  Lieutenant  Colonel 
of  the  8th  Tennessee  Federal  Cavalry;  then  a  State  Senator  some  years  ago  from  the 
first  district;  then  Circuit  Judge  of  the  First  judicial  circuit,  which  position  he  held 
for  eight  years;  now  resides  at  Greeneville,  Tenn.,an  honored  and  respected  lawyer, 
citizen  and  gentleman,  and  itill  has  the  five-dollar  gold  piece— Hon.  Andrew  Jack- 
son Brown. 

tMy  mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Mary  M.  Chester,  married  for  her  first 
husband  Richard  Gammon,  Jr.,  and  they  resided  at  Blountville,  Sullivan  county, 
where  Jackson  was  their  guest  on  this  trip  from  Washington,  for  the  night  preced- 
ing his  arrival  at  Jonesboro.  Mr.  Gammon  and  my  mother  accompanied  the  Presi- 
dent from  Blountville  to  Jonesboro,  where  my  mother  was  born  and  reared,  and  she 
was  present  on  the  hotel  porch  during  this  reception. 


Andrew  Jackson,  the  Man.  133 

(with  great  regret?)  this  charge  of  imbecility  of  old  age,  which 
rendered  it  dangerous  to  the  liberties  of  the  people  and  peril- 
ous to  the  government  to  re-elect  the  once  great  man,  then  a 
mental  wreck.  It  may,  even  at  this  late  day,  be  of  benefit  to 
reproduce  in  part  an  editorial  from  one  of  the  newspapers  of 
the  period — a  strong  and  powerful  one — which,  it  was  said, 
had  been  hired  to  desert  and  slander  President  Jackson,  and 
to  wait  until  he  was  in  the  midst  of  his  journey  through  the 
country  to  the  Hermitage,  before  it  made  its  first  assault  on 
him.     This  editorial,  among  other  things,  said: 

Since  1823  I  have  been  the  firm,  undeviating  friend  of  An- 
drew Jackson,  through  good  and  through  evil  report.  I  have 
defended  his  reputation  and  advocated  his  cause;  and,  for  the 
last  five  years,  my  exertions  in  his  behalf,  as  the  conductor  of 
a  public  journal,  have  been  known  to  this  country.  But  the 
time  has  now  arrived  when  I  owe  it  to  the  people,  to  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  country  and  to  myself  to  declare  my  deliberate 
conviction  that  he  has  not  realized  the  high  hopes  which  his 
reputation  and  previously  written  and  declared  opinions  prom- 
ised, nor  redeemed  the  sacred  pledges  which  he  voluntarily 
gave  on  his  election  to  the  first  station  in  the  world.  Let  us 
not  be  misunderstood:  I  do  not — I  never  will— impeach  his 
patriotism  or  his  integrity;  but  as  a  sentinel  at  my  post,  true 
to  the  dutj'  which  I  voluntarily  assumed  when  I  'became  the 
editor  of  a  public  journal,  I  feel  called  upon  to  proclaim  to  the 
people  that  Andrew  Jackson  is  not  their  President;  that,  en- 
feebled by  age  and  the  toils,  cares  and  anxieties  of  an  active 
and  laborious  life,  he  no  longer  possesses  his  former  energy  of 
character  or  independence  of  mind,  but.,  confiding  in  those  who 
have  wormed  themselves  into  his  confidence,  he  has  entrusted 
the  affairs  of  this  great  nation  and  the  happiness  of  thirteen 
millions  of  freemen  to  the  hands  of  political  gamblers  and 
money-changers,  time-serving  politicians,  who,  in  the  pursuit 
of  their  unhallowed  purposes,  threaten  ruin  to  the  country  and 
to  that  sacred  charter  of  our  liberties  which  was  maintained  by 
the  wisdom  of  our  fathers,  after  having  been  purchased  with 
their  blood  and  the  sacrifice  of  ever}-  selfish  motive  on  tlie  altar 
of  public  good.  * 

*New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer,  quoted  by  Parton,  III,  428. 


134  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

The  foregoing  is  from  a  tliree-column  editorial  which  ap- 
peared during  the  very  week  that  Jackson  was  in  Jonesboro, 
and  only  about  two  days  previous  to  his  reception  in  that  town. 
Eight  newspapers  that  had  theretofore  supported  Jackson  im- 
mediately followed  the  lead  of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer,  took 
the  names  of  Jackson  and  Van  Buren  from  their  mast-heads, 
and  went  over  to  the  support  of  Nicholas  Biddle  and  the  banks, 
on  the  ground  that  the  President  had  lost  his  mind  and  his 
"former  energy  of  character";  but  they  all  lived  long  enough 
to  find  out  how  the  people  of  Jonesboro  received  the  slander,* 
and  also  to  learn  that  the  whole  country  knew  that  they  had 
been  hired  to  traduce  the  life,  character,  abilities  and  public 
services  of  this  great  soldier,  statesman  and  patriot,  and  to 
have  the  finger  of  indignant,  honest  scorn  point  them  out  as 
traitors  to  the  cause  and  slanderers  of  Andrew  Jackson. 

Space  has  been  given  to  this  reception  at  Jonesboro  for  the 
reason  that  it  took  place  during  the  period  of  ten  days  within 
which  nine  or  ten  of  the  newspapers  in  the  east  which  had  been 
supporting  Jackson  suddenly  discovered  that  he  had  ' '  lost  his 
former  energy  of  character  and  independence  of  mind,"  and 
was  so  "enfeebled  by  age  "  that  his  re-election  would  endanger 
the  happiness  of  the  people  and  the  ' '  sacred  charter  of  liberty. " 
This  was  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  first  move  in  the  con- 
spiracy that  was  formed  to  defeat  his  re-election  and  destroy 
him.  These  newspapers  had  been  bought,  the  price  paid  and 
the  trade  closed,  some  time  after  Jackson's  nomination  on  the 
21st  of  May  preceding,  at  Baltimore;  but  they  were  instructed 
to  reserve  their  opening  fire  upon  him  until  an  opportune  time. 
It  was  ascertained  that  he  was  about  to  visit  the  Hermitage, 
and  that  he  was  going  "overland"  down  across  Virginia  and 

•The  Courier  and  Enquirer  which,  contained  this  Rdltorial,  reaching  Jonesboro 
A  few  (lays  after  Jackson's  reception,  was  torn  in  pieces,  trampled  and  burned  in 
the  street. 


Andrew  Jackson,  the  Man.  135 

on  through  Tennessee.  When  he  was  about  midway  on  this 
journey,  with  no  telegraph  or  fast  mail  communication  to  give 
him  information,  these  "bushwhackers  "  fired  on  his  character, 
his  integrity  and  his  administration,  and  yet  protested  in  the 
same  editorials  that  they  did  not  intend  to  ' '  impeach  his  pa- 
triotism or  his  integrity. " 

The  cold-blooded,  savage  brutality  of  this  conspiracy,  its 
'•lying  in  wait,"  concealment  in  ambush  for  weeks,  to  catch 
the  victim  away  from  home,  out  in  the  interior  on  a  long  jour- 
ney, and  then  assault  and  attempt  to  assassinate  his  character, 
is  without  parallel  in  American  political  warfare.  But  the 
people  could  not  be  bought,  deceived,  driven  nor  intimidated. 
Of  the  popular  vote  cast  in  the  election,  that  year,  Jackson 
received  687,502,  and  Clay  530,189.  Jackson  carried  seven- 
teen out  of  twenty-four  states,  and  received  219  out  of  288 
electoral  votes. 

If  the  men  who  became  the  tools  of  this  conspiracy  to  ruin 
his  usefulness,  and  to  cloud  his  former  fair  name  and  fame, 
had  any  sensibilities  left,  what  must  have  been  the  depth  of 
their  humiliation  when,  in  June,  1833,  Andrew  Jackson,  then 
President  of  the  United  States  for  a  second  term,  and  sixty- 
six  years  of  age,  rode  on  horseback  along  Broadway  in  the  city 
of  New  York.     Parton  describes  it  in  a  few  words: 

And  what  a  scene  was  that,  when  the  Old  Man,  victorious 
over  nullification,  and  about  to  deal  his  finishing  blow  at  the 
bank,  visited  New  York,  and  was  borne  along  Broadway  on 
one  roaring  wave  of  upturned  faces  and  flashing  eyes;  when  it 
seemed,  said  a  spectator,  as  if  he  had  but  to  speak  the  word, 
and  they  would  have  proclaimed  him  on  the  spot  a  king.  * 

This  ovation  in  New  York  was  after  he  had  been  elected; 
the  other  mentioned  was  before  he  was  elected,  and  was  given 

*  Life,  preface. 


136  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

to  the  man,  in  a  country  road,  between  crooked  rail  fences, 
under  the  shade  of  the  native  oaks. 

President  Jackson,  during  his  second  term,  carried  out  his 
<' previously  written  and  declared  opinions  and  promises,"  and 
"redeemed  the  sacred  pledges  which  he  voluntarily  gave,"  by 
crushing  the  United  States  Banks  and  freeing  the  people,  com- 
merce and  trade  from  their  domination,  bringing  shame  and 
disgrace  upon  the  conspirators  and  the  hired  traducers  of  this 
great  man,  whose  name  and  fame  will  not  perish  until  the  de- 
parted spirit  of  American  Independence  shall  shake  hands  with 
the  ghost  of  Liberty  across  the  grave  of  the  greatest  republic 
that  has  ever  existed. 


.A.  F»  F»  E^  IM  LD I  :?C . 


A   CENTENNIAL  DREAM, 


BY  DR.  R.  L.  C.  WHITE. 


(NashviUe  American,  March  7,  1897.) 

HAVING  spent  an  afternoon  in  wandering  about  the  Centen- 
nial grounds,  I  had  devoted  the  evening  to  Haywood, 
Kamsey  and  other  chroniclers  of  early  Tennessee  history. 
These  two  circumstances  combined  were  doubtless  the  cause  of 
a  singular  dream  which  I  had  that  night.  I  thought  that  I 
stood  in  the  Auditorium,  and  saw  congregated  within  its  walls 
many  of  the  famous  men  and  women  of  the  past  whose  names 
are  closely  interwoven  with  the  history  of  our  state.  They 
seemed  to  constitute  a  convention  of  some  kind  ;  and,  although 
the  assemblage  had  not  yet  been  called  to  order,  the  chair  had 
already-  been  taken,  very  appropriately,  by  the  illustrious  patriot 
whom  Andrew  Jackson  styled  "the  Father  of  Tennessee"  (1), 
while  the  publisher  of  the  first  newspaper  issued  in  the  state 
(2)  acted  as  secretary,  assisted  by  the  first  native  historian  of 
Tennessee  (3),  the  founder  of  the  first  "campaign  paper" 
established  west  of  the  Alleghanies  (4),  and  the  editor  of  the 
first  abolition  paper  issued  in  the  south  (5). 

Seated  upon  the  platform  were  several  persons  who  seemed 
to  have  been  designated  as  vice  presidents  of  the  meeting.  There 
were  the  statesman  who  defeated  another  eminent  Tennessean 
for  speaker  of  the  national  Plouse  of  Representatives,  and  was 
in  turn  defeated  by  him  (6) ;  the  only  two  United  States  Senators 


138         Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

from  Tennessee  who  were  ever  expelled  (7,  8) ;  the  only  Con- 
federate States  Senators  from  Tennessee  (9,  10);  the  man  of 
whom  an  ex-President  of  the  United  States  said  that  he  was 
<«the  greatest  natural  orator  in  Congress"  (11);  the  United 
States  Senator  who  published  the  first  map  of  Tennessee  (12); 
"Old  Bullion"  (13);  and  the  patriot  who,  on  resigning  his 
seat  in  the  Senate  because  he  could  not  conscientiously  obey 
the  instructions  of  the  legislature,  said :  ' '  For  myself,  I  am 
proud  that  my  state  can,  in  my  person,  yet  produce  one  man 
willing  to  be  made  a  sacrifice  rather  than  sacrifice  his  prin- 
ciples" (14). 

An  interesting  quartet,  near  the  stage,  consisted  of  the  mem- 
ber of  the  first  constitutional  convention  who  proposed  the 
name  "Tennessee"  for  the  infant  commonwealth  (15);  the 
eminent  statesman  who  said  of  the  first  constitution  of  Ten- 
nessee that  it  was  ' '  the  least  imperfect  and  most  republican " 
of  any  which  had  been  adopted  up  to  that  time  (16);  and  the 
presidents  respectively  of  the  second  and  third  constitutional 
conventions  (17,  18). 

Seated  together,  a  little  farther  back,  were  the  two  men  who 
signed  the  act  ceding  "the  territory  south  of  the  Ohio"  to  the 
United  States  (19,  20)  ;  the  Virginia  statesman  in  whose  honor, 
at  the  suggestion  of  Andrew  Jackson,  a  county  was  named,  in 
recognition  of  his  earnest  advocacy  of  the  admission  of  Ten- 
nessee to  the  Union  (21);  the  man  who  gave  in  the  Senate  the 
casting  vote  which  secured  that  admission  (22) ;  and  the  com- 
missioner who  was  sent  by  the  Confederate  government  to  effect 
the  withdrawal  of  Tennessee  from  the  Union  (23). 

Chatting  pleasantly  together,  in  one  corner  of  the  hall,  was 
a  notable  group  of  women,  comprising  the  wife  of  whom  her 
husband  left  the  record  that  she  was  ' '  a  being  so  gentle  and  yet 
80  virtuous,  slander  might  wound,  but  could  not  dishonor"  (24) ; 


Appendix.  139 

the  only  femnle  for  whom  a  Tennessee  county  has  ever  been 
named  (25) ;  the  pioneer  maiden  who,  in  endeavoring  to  escape 
from  Indians,  fell  into  the  arms  of  the  soldier  who  afterwards 
became  her  husband  (26);  and  the  beautiful  Irish  girl  who  was 
the  cause  of  the  disruption  of  a  President's  cabinet  (27) ;  while 
near  them  '-the  Pocahontas  of  the  West"  (28)  stood  silently 
listening. 

A  remarkable  group  was  composed  of  the  famous  general 
whose  name  was  bestowed  on  the  largest  area  ever  embraced 
within  the  limits  of  a  single  county  (29);  a  nobleman  whose 
ancestral  name,  in  abbreviated  form,  is  borne  by  a  Tennessee 
county  (30) ;  the  explorer  who  named  the  Cumberland  mount- 
ains and  river  (31);  the  governor  by  whose  misspelled  name  a 
large  part  of  Tennessee  was  known  for  many  years  (32);  the 
revolutionary  soldier  in  whose  honor  the  first  settlement  on  the 
Cumberland  was  called  (33) ;  and  the  famous  explorer  whose 
mysterious  death,  within  the  limits  of  the  county  which  now 
bears  his  name,  has  never  been  satisfactorily  explained  (34). 

A  picturesque  trio  consisted  of  the  leader  of  the  first  body 
of  white  men  who  ever  set  foot  on  the  soil  of  Tennessee  (35) ; 
the  first  white  man  who  erected  an  edifice  within  its  limits  (36) ; 
and  the  nobleman  whose  titular  name  was  given  to  the  first 
structure  built  therein  by  English-speaking  people  (37). 

Grouped  modestly  in  the  rear  of  the  hall  were  several  men 
whose  dress  and  accoutrements  proclaimed  them  pioneers. 
There  were  the  famous  "big-foot  hunter"  who  lived  in  a  hol- 
low tree  (38) ;  the  man  whom  the  Indians  called  the  ' '  fool 
warrior"  on  account  of  his  reckless  bravery  (39);  the  com- 
mander of  a  marvellous  expedition  by  water,  of  which  it  has 
been  said  that  "  it  has  no  parallel  in  modern  historj'"  (40);  the 
man  for  whom  the  oldest  town  in  the  state  was  named  (41); 
the  first  white  child  born  in  Tennessee  (42);  the  first  white 


140  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

child  born  in  Nashville  (43) ;  and  the  bridegroom  of  the  first 
marriage  ceremony  performed  west  of  the  Cumberland  mount- 
ains (44). 

Just  beyond  these,  leaning  on  their  Deckhard  rifles,  stood 
three  men  who  would  have  attracted  attention  anywhere — the 
celebrated  backwoodsman  who  left  an  engraved  record  to  desig- 
nate the  spot  where  he  had  ' '  cilled  a  bar  "  (45) ;  another,  equally 
famous,  who  relates  in  his  autobiography  that  he  killed  one 
hundred  and  five  bears  in  less  than  a  year  (46) ;  and  still  an- 
other who  shot  thirty-two  of  these  "varmints"  during  one 
winter  within  seven  miles  of  Nashville  (47). 

I  was  much  interested  in  the  appearance  of  a  number  of  in- 
telligent-looking men  who  sat  together,  engaged  in  earnest  con- 
versation. There  were  the  man  who  founded  the  first  educational 
institution  in  the  Mississippi  valley  (48) ;  the  first  minister  who 
preached  regularly  to  a  Tennessee  congregation  (49) ;  the  bishop 
whose  journal  forms  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  history  of 
early  times  in  this  state  (50);  the  president  of  the  first  non- 
sectarian  college  chartered  in  the  United  States  (51);  the  class- 
mate of  Daniel  Webster  who  founded  the  first  academy  for  fe- 
males in  Tennessee  (52) ;  and  the  eminent  educator  who  declined 
successively  the  presidency  of  seven  universities  and  colleges 
in  other  states,  in  order  that  he  might  continue  his  chosen  work 
in  this  (53). 

Immediately  in  rear  of  these  were  the  illustrious  savant 
who  first  mapped  the  Gulf  Stream,  and  demonstrjited  the  fea- 
sibility of  a  submarine  cable  (54) ;  the  first  state  geologist  of 
Tennessee  (55) ;  a  distinguished  surgeon  who  served  profession- 
ally in  the  armies  of  three  countries  (56);  and  the  young  phy- 
sician who,  while  perishing  in  a  snow-storm  on  Mont  Blanc, 
kept  a  record  of  his  sensations  for  the  benefit  of  science  (57). 

Just  across  the  aisle  sat  the  first  chief  justice  of  Tennessee 


Appendix.  141 

(58);  the  judge  who,  after  having  been  chief  justice  of  Ken- 
tucky, removed  to  this  state  and  became  the  greatest  criminal 
advocate  in  the  history  of  its  bar  (59);  the  first  judge  who  was 
ever  impeached  in  Tennessee  (60) ;  the  eminent  jurist  who 
wrote  President  Jackson's  farewell  address  (61);  and  the  judge 
whose  singular  death  from  the  attack  of  an  infuriated  turkey- 
gobbler  was  regarded  by  the  early  settlers  as  retributive  justice 
for  official  oppression  (62). 

A  literary  group  was  composed  of  ' '  the  father  of  Tennessee 
history"  (63);  the  famous  printer  whose  name  a  short-lived 
commonwealth  once  bore  (64) ;  the  English  author  who  founded 
a  colony  in  this  state  which  was  named  for  the  scene  of  his 
best-known  book  (65) ;  a  Tennessee  editor  who  was  afterward 
elected  to  a  seat  in  the  British  parliament  (66) ;  the  author  of 
''Hymns  to  the  Gods"  (67);  and  "Sut  Lovengood"  (68). 

In  a  prominent  position  in  the  center  of  the  hall  were  a  man 
who  was  governor  of  two  states  of  the  Union  (69) ;  a  governor 
of  Tennessee  who  was  buried  in  two  states  (70) ;  the  first  man 
who  became  governor  by  virtue  of  his  position  as  speaker  of 
the  Senate  (71)  ;  one  who  was  elected  governor,  but  never 
inaugurated  (72)  ;  a  governor  who  was  presented  by  a  grand 
jury  as  a  public  nuisance  (73) ;  one  to  whom  a  celebrated 
author  referred  as  having  given  to  his  official  station  ' '  the  ill- 
savor  of  a  corner  grocery  "  (74) ;  the  only  person  present  at  the 
death  of  Henry  Clay  except  the  members  of  his  immediate 
household  (75);  the  editor  famous  as  "the  fighting  parson" 
(76)  ;  and  the  man  who,  by  casting  the  entire  vote  of  the  state 
at  a  national  convention,  although  he  was  merely  a  chance  by- 
stander, gave  a  new  word  to  Tennessee  politics  (77). 

A  distinguished  looking  body  was  composed  of  the  revolu- 
tionary general  to  whom  25,000  acres  of  land  in  Tennessee 
were  granted  by  legislative  enactment  (78) ;  a  famous  fighter 


142  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

under  Jackson  who  was  said  to  have  been  "a  great  general 
without  knowing  it "  (79)  ;  a  naval  oflBcer  who  was  master  of  a 
vessel  at  twelve  years  of  age,  and  whom  one  of  the  best-known 
of  American  poets  has  styled 

"  The  sea-king  of  the  sovereign  west 
Who  made  his  mast  a  throne  "  (80) ; 

the  Tennessee  postmaster  to  whom  Andrew  Jackson  bequeathed 
a  sword  (81);  the  colonel  of  the  famous  "Bloody  First"  (82) j 
and  the  ' '  gre5'^-eyed  man  of  destiny  "  (83). 

Elsewhere  were  to  be  seen  the  man  who  supplied  the  funds 
which  equipped  John  Sevier  for  King's  Mountain  (84) ;  the  man 
who  furnished  Jackson  all  the  cannon-balls  used  by  him  at  New 
Orleans  (85) ;  the  first  man  who  coined  silver  money  in  Ten- 
nessee (86) ;  the  owner  of  the  first  steamboat  that  ever  landed 
at  Nashville  (87) ;  the  man  who  inaugurated  the  movement  for 
building  the  first  railroad  in  Tennessee,  and  was  long  known  as 
•'Old  Chattanooga"  in  consequence  (88);  the  man  who  ex- 
changed a  cow  and  calf  for  the  hill  on  which  the  state  capitol 
was  afterwards  built  (89) ;  the  man  who  bought  the  ground  on 
which  a  large  part  of  one  of  the  most  important  cities  in  the 
state  now  stands,  for  a  rifle,  a  mare  and  a  pair  of  leather 
breeches  (90);  the  discoverer  of  the  Yosemite  valley  (91);  the 
famous  philanthropist  who  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  the  found- 
ing of  a  state  asylum  for  the  insane  (92) ;  the  author  of  the 
first  bill  for  the  establishment  of  a  normal  school  in  Tennessee 
(93) ;  and  the  patriotic  citizen  who  erected,  at  his  own  expense, 
the  flrst  monument  to  the  memory  of  John  Sevier  (94). 

A  striking  pair  was  composed  of  the  man  in  whose  veins  cir- 
culated the  blood  of  four  races,  and  who  simultaneously  held 
commissions  in  the  armies  of  three  countries  and  was  loyal  to 
none  (95) ;  and  the  Choctaw  chief  who  was  graduated  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Nashville,  and  of  whom  Charles  Dickens  has  said 


Appendix.  143 

that  he  was  ' '  as  stately  and  complete  a  gentleman,  of  nature's 
making,"  as  he  had  ever  met  (96).  Another  pair,  quite  as 
striking,  consisted  of  the  first  permanent  settler  at  French  Lick 
(97),  conversing  volubly  in  his  own  tongue  with  a  royal  person- 
age who  visited  Nashville  in  his  youth,  and  afterwards  became 
a  king  (98). 

Just  then  the  presiding  officer  arose  and  gave  a  premonitory 
rap  with  his  gavel.  As  he  did  so,  I  saw  slipping  furtively  out 
of  a  rear  door  "the  great  western  land  pirate"  (99),  closely 
followed  by  the  man  who  was  instrumental  in  bringing  him  to- 
justice  (100). 


INTERPRETATION  OF  THE  "DREAM. 


(NashMe  American,  May  16,  1897.) 

1.  James  Robertson. 

2.  George  Roulstone. 

3.  James  Gattys  McGregor  Ramsey. 

4.  Allen  Anderson  Hall. 

5.  Elihu  Embree. 

6.  John  Bell. 

7.  William  Blount. 

8.  Alfred  Osborn  Pope  Nicholson. 

9.  Landon  Carter  Haynes. 

10.  Gustavus  Adolphus  Henry. 

11.  Meredith  Poindexter  Gentry. 

12.  Daniel  Smith. 

13.  Thomas  Hart  Benton. 

14.  Hugh  Lawson  White. 

15.  Andrew  Jackson. 


144  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

16.  Thomas  Jefferson. 

17.  William  Blount  Carter. 

18.  John  Calvin  Brown. 

19.  Charles  Johnson. 

20.  Stephen  Cabarrus. 

21.  William  Branch  Giles. 

22.  Samuel  Livermore.  n 

23.  Henry  Washington  Hilliard, 

24.  Rachel  Jackson. 

25.  Mary  Grainger. 

26.  Catharine  (or  Katherine)  Sherrill. 

27.  Margaret  O'Neill  (or  O'Neal). 

28.  Nancy  Ward. 

29.  George  Washington. 

30.  Marie  Jean  Paul  Roche  Yves  Gilbert  Motier  de  Lafayette. 

31.  Thomas  Walker. 

32.  Estevan  Miro. 

33.  Francis  Nash. 

34.  Meriwether  Lewis. 

35.  Fernando  (or  Ferdinand  or  Hernando)  DeSoto. 

36.  Robert  Cavelier  de  La  Salle. 

37.  John  Campbell,  Earl  of  Loudoun. 

38.  Thomas  Sharpe  (or  Sharp)  Spencer. 

39.  Abraham  Castleman. 

40.  John  Donelson. 

41.  Willie  Jones. 

42.  Russell  Bean. 

43.  Felix  Robertson. 

44.  James  Leiper  (or  Leeper). 

45.  Daniel  Boone  (or  Boon). 

46.  David  Crockett. 

47.  John  Rains. 


Appendix.  145 


48.  Samuel  Doak. 

49.  Tidence  Lane. 

50.  Francis  Asbury. 

51.  Samuel  Carrick. 

52.  Moses  Fisk  (or  Fiske). 

53.  Philip  Lindslcy. 

54.  Matthew  Fontaine  Maury. 

55.  Gerard  Troost. 

56.  Paul  Fitzsimnious  Eve, 

57.  James  Baxter  Bean. 

58.  John  Catron. 

59.  Felix  Grundy. 

60.  David  Campbell. 
C61.  Roger  Brooke  Taney. 

62.  Samuel  Spencer. 

63.  John  Haywood. 

64.  Benjamin  Franklin. 

65.  Thomas  Hughes. 

66.  John  Mitchel. 

67.  Albert  Pike. 

68.  George  Washington  Harris. 

69.  Samuel  Houston. 

70.  John  Sevier. 

71.  William  Hall 

72.  Robert  Looney  Caruthers. 

73.  James  Knox  Polk. 

74.  Andrew  Johnson. 

75.  James  Chamberlain  Jones. 

76.  William  Gannaway  Brownlow. 

77.  Edmund  Rucker. 

78.  Nathanael  (or  Nathaniel)  Greene. 

79.  John  Coffee. 
10 


146  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

80.  David  Glasgow  (or  Glascoe)  Farragut. 

81.  Robert  Armstrong. 

82.  William  Bowen  Campbell. 

83.  William  Walker. 

84.  John  Adair. 

85.  Montgomery  Bell. 

86.  Charles  Roberson.  v^ 

87.  William  Carroll. 

88.  James  Overton. 

89.  George  Washington  Campbell. 

90.  David  Shelby. 

91.  Joseph  Reddeford  Walker. 

92.  Dorothea  Lynde  Dix. 

93.  Robert  Hatton. 

94.  Albigence  Waldo  Putnam. 

95.  Alexander  McGillivray  (or  McGilveray). 

96.  Peter  P.  Pitchlynn. 

97.  Timote  (or  Timothy)  Demonbreun. 

98.  Louis  Philippe. 

99.  John  Arnold  Murrell. 
100.  Virgil  Adam  Stewart. 

In  the  matter  of  the  orthography  of  the  foregoing  names,  lat- 
titude  is  allowed  wherever  it  is  proper  to  do  so.  For  example, 
the  famous  "backwoodsman  of  Kentucky"  was  in  the  habit  of 
signing  his  name  -'Boon"  or  "Boone,"  as  the  fancy  struck 
him;  Capt.  Leiper  was  known  as  "Leiper"  or  "Leeper"  in- 
diflferently,  the  latter  having  been  the  signature  to  the  Cumber- 
land Compact;  the  surname  of  '  *  Bonnie  Kate  "  is  always  printed 
as  "Sherrill  "  by  historians  (the  "  Sherril  "  of  Putnam  being 
manifestly  a  typographical  error),  although  her  father  wi-ote 
his  name  "Sherrell";  that  romantic  scoundrel,  Alexander  Mc- 
Gillivray, was  almost  as  versatile  in  the  matter  of  autographic 


Appendix.  147 

variants  of  his  family  name  as  was  Shakespeare — Capt.  Alli- 
son, in  his  "Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History,"  speaks 
of  having  examined  two  autograph  letters,  one  of  which  is 
signed  ' '  McGillivray  "  and  the  other  ' '  McGilveray  " ;  the  middle 
name  of  the  ' '  big  foot  hunter  "is  "  Sharpe  "or  "  Sharp, "  as  may 
be ;  the  Moses  Fisk  of  history  appears  in  the  catalog  of  Dart- 
mouth College  as  ' '  Fiske  " ;  and  while  the  actual  name  of  the 
' '  pretty  Peggy  "  of  Jackson's  time  seems  unquestionably  to  have 
been  Margaret  O'Neill,  Partou  invariably  prints  it ' '  O'Neal. "  On 
the  other  hand,  there  are  several  cases  in  which  it  is  not  at  all  diffi- 
cult to  determine  the  absolutely  accurate  orthography.  Instances 
are  the  Christian  name  of  Meriwether  Lewis,  a  facsimile  of  whose 
autograph  may  be  found  in  Appleton's  ' '  Cyclopedia  of  American 
Biography,"  and  who  invariably  signed  his  name  as  it  is  here 
given,  although  the  Tennessee  legislature,  with  that  faculty 
for  blundering  which  seems  an  inevitable  characteristic  of  Ten- 
nessee legislatures  at  all  periods,  inscribed  his  tombstone 
"  Merriwether " ;  the  Earl  of  Loudoun,  for  any  other  spelling 
of  whose  name  there  is  no  shadow  of  authority;  John  Mitchel, 
the  Irish  patriot;  Willie  (pronounced  "Wylie")  Jones,  whose 
Christian  name  many  persons  seem  to  regard  as  a  diminutive 
of  "William"  (even  Phelan  makes  this  error);  Demonbreun, 
which  is  the  form  the  name  of  the  pioneer  of  French  Lick  as- 
sumed when  its  bearer,  who  was  "De  Mont  Breun"  in  France, 
came  to  America — the  various  curious  shapes  in  which  the 
name  is  given  by  Haywood  and  Ramsey  being  merely  vagaries 
of  the  fancy  of  these  worthies,  who  had  an  ingenuous  habit, 
where  proper  names  were  concerned,  of  "spelling  by  ear";  and 
notably  the  "misspelled  name"  referred  to  in  32,  which,  given 
by  Haywood,  Ramsey  and  Putnam  in  various  forms  (all  of 
them  incorrect),  is  rightly  given  in  Martin's  history  of  Lou- 
isiana— unquestionable  authority  in  all  matters  relating  to  that 


148  Dropped  Stitchbs  in  Tennessee  History. 

period.  A  photographic  reproduction  of  Miro's  autograph  sig- 
nature may  be  found  in  a  recent  issue  of  that  valuable  publica- 
tion, Professor  Garrett's  "Magazine  of  American  History." 
One  name  which  is  incorrectly  printed  in  all  the  histories  is  that 
of  Charles  Roberson.  Capt.  John  Allison  informs  me  that  the 
t)ld  court  records  at  Jonesboro  show  that  he  invariably  signed 
his  name  as  I  have  given  it  above.  It  may  be  well  here  to 
state  that  the  general  belief  that  Charles  Roberson  was  a  rela- 
tive of  Gen.  James  Robertson  is  incorrect. 

In  connection  with  the  identity  of  the  editor  referred  to  in 
4,  attention  may  here  properly  be  called  to  a  remarkable  blun- 
der in  Crew's  History  of  Nashville,  where  the  positive  assertion 
is  made  that  Jeremiah  George  Harris,  in  1840,  "issued  the 
first  campaign  paper  ever  issued  west  of  the  AUeghanies, 
named  Advance  Guard  of  the  Democracy,  and  this  occasioned 
the  issue  from  the  office  of  the  Banner  of  The  Spirit  of  '76, 
a  Whig  campaign  paper."  This  statement  is  the  exact  reverse 
of  the  fact,  the  first  issue  of  The  Spirit  of  '76  (Allen  A. 
Hall's  paper)  having  made  its  appearance  March  14,  1840, 
while  Harris's  paper  did  not  see  the  light  until  the  23d  of  the 
following  April,  it  having  evidently  been  suggested  by,  instead 
of  suggesting,  the  rival  campaign  paper.  This  blunder  is  the 
more  singular  from  the  fact  that  bound  volumes  of  both  papers 
were  easily  accessible  to  the  writer  in  the  library  of  the  Ten- 
nessee Historical  Society — and  he  does  not  even  give  the  name 
of  Harris's  paper  correctly  ! 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Elihu  Embree  was  really  the 
first  abolition  editor.  To  settle  definitely  a  matter  which  all 
of  the  histories  and  biographical  dictionaries  (so  far  as  I  have 
examined,  without  exception)  misstate — they  invariably  call 
Benjamin  Lundy  the  pioneer  in  anti-slavery  journalism — I 
quote  here  a  passage  from  an  extremely  rare  book — Lundy's 


Appendix.  149 

Autobiography.  After  narrating  his  experiences  in  St.  Louis,  in 
1819,  which  caused  his  determination  to  return  to  his  home  in 
Ohio,  Lundy  says :  ' '  Before  I  left  St.  Louis  I  heard  that  Elihu 
Embree  had  commenced  the  publication  of  an  anti-slavery  pa- 
per called  '  The  Emancipator '  at  Jonesborough,  in  Tennessee ; 
but  on  my  way  home  I  was  informed  of  the  death  of  Embree, 
and  I  determined  immediately  to  establish  a  periodical  of  my 
own.  I  therefore  removed  to  Mount  Pleasant  [Ohio]  and 
commenced  the  publication  of  '  The  Genius  of  Universal  Eman- 
cipation,' in  January,  1821.  .  .  .  When  the  friends  of 
the  deceased  Embree  heard  of  my  paper  they  urged  me  to  re- 
move to  Tennessee  and  use  the  press  on  which  his  had  been 
printed.  I  assented,  and  after  having  issued  eight  monthly 
numbers  of  the  '  Genius '  I  started  for  Tennessee.  On  my  ar- 
rival I  rented  the  printing  office  and  immediately  went  to  work 
with  the  paper." 

Careless  reading  of  Ramsey  has  led  astray  a  large  number 
of  people  with  regard  to  the  minister  referred  to  in  49.  Speak- 
ing of  the  expedition  of  Col.  Christian  for  the  relief  of  the 
Watauga  settlers  in  1772,  Ramsey  says  :  ''The  Rev.  Charles 
Cummings  accompanied  the  expedition  as  chaplain,  and  was 
thus  the  first  Christian  minister  that  ever  preached  in  Tennes- 
see. "  Granted — but  while  this  is  doubtless  true,  the  question 
is  not  who  "first  preached  in  Tennessee,"  but  who  first 
"preached  regularly  to  a  Tennessee  congregation,"  and  that 
this  was  Tidence  Lane,  in  1779,  is  clearly  demonstrated  else- 
where by  Ramsey.  Goodspeed,  indeed,  using  Ramsey's  facts, 
but  changing  his  language,  asserts  in  terms  that  Cummings 
had  charge  of  a  congregation  "within  the  limits  of  the  state"; 
but  Goodspeed  is  in  error  in  this,  as  he  is  in  very  many  other 
statements.  In  Park's  "Historical  Discourse,"  a  work  which 
is  the  result  of    the  most  careful  and   painstaking  original 


160  Dropped  Stitches  in  Tennessee  History. 

research,  the  statement  is  explicitly  made  that  the  congrega- 
tion to  which  Goodspeed  refers  as  having  enjoyed  the  minis- 
trations of  Cummings  "in  the  Holston  valley  as  early  as 
1772,"  was  really  not  located  in  Tennessee  at  all.  It  was  "in 
Virginia,  near  the  site  of  the  present  town  of  Abingdon." 
Dr.  Park,  himself  a  Presbyterian,  would  not  be  likely  to  fail 
to  claim  for  a  minister  of  his  own  denomination  any  credit 
justly  due  him. 

In  order  to  be  absolutely  frank,  I  desire  to  correct  an  error — 
the  only  one,  I  believe,  in  the  "Dream,"  and  one  fortunately 
of  little  moment.  The  man  who  ' '  founded  the  first  academy 
for  females  in  Tennessee  "  (52)  was  not  a  classmate  of  Daniel 
Webster,  as  stated  ;  although  the  misstatement  was  made  on 

what  I  considered  good  authority. 

R.  L.   C.  White. 


i]siide:;>c. 


Allison,  David— admitted  to  the  bar,  4;  subsequent  career,  8. 

Anti-slavery  agitation— begun  early  in  Tennessee,  77. 

Avery,  Waightstill— duel  with  Andrew  Jackson,  110;  life  and  character,  110;  his 
favorite  authority,  113. 

"  liacon's  Abridgment"— figures  in  a  duel,  113;  singular  substitute  for,  115. 

Bancroft,  George— letter  from.  17. 

Barker,  Thomas— case  of,  63;  intervention  of  his  wife,  M;  place  of  burial,  68. 

Battle  of  Ne'.v  Orleans— unique  account  of,  107. 

Bean.  Russell— cliaracter  of,  119;  cruelty  to  an  infant,  119;  arrested  by  Jackson,  120; 
reconciliation  with  his  wife  effected  by  .Jackson,  121. 

Bell's  tavern— Jackson's  adventure  at,  125. 

Boyd,  Ben— rencontre  with  Andrew  Jackson,  122;  his  involuntary  bath,  124. 

British,  hatred  of  the— its  survival  in  East  Tennessee,  108. 

Brown,  Andrew  Jackson — President  Jackson's  gift  to,  132  (note). 

Centennial  Dream- text  of,  137;  interpretation,  143. 

Church— first  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  25. 

Contested  election— the  first  case  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  40. 

Conventions,  early,  27,  28,  32. 

Corporations,  private— regulation  of,  80.  ^ 

Courier  and  Enquirer,  New  York— quoted,  133;  burned  at  Jonesboro,  134  (note). 

Court,  the  first  held  in  Tennessee — oath  taken  by  the  members,  22;  first  session,  40; 
powers  and  jurisdiction,  57. 

Culton,  Joseph— curious  record  concerning,  54. 

Cumberland  Turnpike  Company — incorporation  of,  81. 

Currency,  commissioners  of,  46,  47. 

Debts,  interest-bearing— early  policy  of  the  state  opposed  to,  72. 

Doak,  Samuel— arrival  in  Tennessee,  24;  founds  Salem  church  and  Washington 
college,  25. 

Dream.  Centennial— text  of,  137;  interpretation,  143. 

Electors,  presidential,  in  1796 — method  of  their  selection,  97. 

Emancipation  of  slaves — early  cases  of,  in  Tennessee,  77;  authority  conferred  on 
county  courts,  78. 

Embree,  Elihu— first  abolition  editor,  78  (note),  148. 

Fees  of  public  officers  and  attorneys — regulated  by  law,  73. 

Fire  at  Jonesboro — Andrew  Jackson's  share  in  extinguishing,  121;  Ben  Boyd's 
rencontre  with  Jackson,  122. 

Franklin,  state  of— inception,  27;  organized,  29;  boundaries,  29;  extent,  30;  early 
laws,  31:  collapse,  35. 

Free  and  independent  government,  the  first— its  establishment,  20;  its  dissolution,  22. 

Fuller,  Melville  W. — on  selection  of  presidential  electors,  97. 

Greasy  cove — famous  horse-race  in,  102. 

Hamilton,  Joseph— admitted  to  the  bar,  5;  subsequent  career,  6. 

Interpretation  of  the  Centennial  Dream,  143. 

Jackson,  Andrew— errors  of  his  biographers,  1,  2;  arrival  at  Nashville,  1,  2,  4;  ap- 
pointed United  States  district  attorney,  3;  admitted  to  the  bar  in  Washington 
county,  4;  contest  with  Sevier  for  Major  General,  6;  not  a  witness  of  Sevier's 
"rescue,"  8.  9;  advent  at  Jonesboro,  9;  residence  there,  10;  characteristics  as  a 
lawyer,  11;   incident  at  the  Rogersville  "  tavern,"  12;  love  of  sport,  13,  101 ;  ju- 


y-s'^6s^ 


000  622  633 


152  Index. 


dicial  udminigtration,  101:  his  famous  horse-race  in  Greasy  cove,  102,  132:  his 
flery  temper,  106;  ovation  on  Broadway,  109, 135;  duel  with  Avery,  110;  another 
duel  at  Jonesboro,  117;  arrest  of  Russell  Bean,  120;  as  a  volunteer  fireman,  122; 
his  moral  courage,  125;  ovation  at  Jonesboro,  128;  his  wonderful  memory,  129; 
conspiracy  against,  132. 

Jenkins,  J.  S.— life  of  Jackson  quoted,  2. 

Jonesboro— district  court  at,  2;  Andrew  Jackson's  residence  there,  10;  organization 
of  the  county  court  at,  22;  conventions  at,  27,  28;  proceedings  of  the  county 
court  at,  39;  Jackson's  duels  at.  111,  117;  fire  at,  121;  ovation  to  Jackson  at,  130. 

Legislation,  early— examples  of  69,  70,  73,  74,  77,  80. 

Love,  Colonel— Jackson's  famous  horse-race  with,  102. 

McCay,  Spruce— his  summary  methods  as  a  judge,  51;  character,  52. 

McGillivray,  Alexander— character  of,  91,  93,  94;  quoted,  92,  93. 

MoNairy,  John— admitted  to  the  bar,  5;  subsequent  career,  6. 

Mecklenburg  "resolves" — letter  from  Bancroft  concerning,  17. 

Mero  district — created,  87;  correct  orthography  of  the  name,  87;  name  discon- 
tinued, 96. 

"  Mink  skins  "—origin  of  the  term,  as  applied  to  currency,  31. 

Miro,  Estevan— character  of,  88,  96;  services,  89,  92,  95;  quoted,  92,  94. 

New  Orleans,  battle  of— unique  account  of,  107. 

Nolichucky  River  Company— incorporation  of,  80. 

Orthography  of  "  Miro,"  87. 

Ovations  to  Andrew  Jackson— on  Broadway,  New  York.  109, 185;  at  Jonesboro,  128. 

Parton,  James — life  of  Jackson  quoted,  2,  123, 135. 

Pensions  to  soldiers— granted  by  Tennessee  before  action  by  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment, 70,  72. 

Presidential  electors  in  1796 — method  of  their  selection,  97. 

Printing  press — first  in  Tennessee  and  second  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  established 
at  Rogersville,  36. 

Pugh,  John,  "  Regulator  "  and  sheriff,  18. 

Pybourn,  Elias— severe  punishment  of,  53. 

Reid,  .Tohn— life  of  Jackson  quoted,  1. 

Roace,  Archibald— admitted  to  the  bar,  4;  subsequent  career,  5,  6. 

Roberson,  Charles— father-in-law  of  Russell  Bean,  119;  Parton's  injustice  to,  121. 

Robertson,  James — suggests  name  of  Miro  district,  87. 

Roulstone,  George — established  first  printing  press,  36. 

Salem  church— founding  of,  25. 

School,  first,  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  25. 

Settlers,  the  early— life,  habits  and  characteristics,  15,  16,  18,  24. 

Sevier,  James— clerk  of  Washington  county  court,  33;  unique  record  of,  34. 

Sevier,  John— contest  with  Jackson  for  Major  General,  6;  subsequent  career,  7;  his 
"rescue"  at  Morganton,  8;  contest  for  clerk,  40;  commissioner  of  currency,  46, 
47,  48. 

Slaves,  emancipation  of — early  cases  in  Tennessee,  77;  authority  conferred  on  county 
courts,  78. 

Specie  contracts— regulation  of,  74. 

Taylor,  Christopher— friend  of  Andrew  Jackson,  11. 

Tennessee  county — created,  86;  divided,  96. 

Treason — early  trials  for,  42,  43,  63. 

Washington  college— founding  of,  25. 

Watson,  Sir  Thomas— visit  to  Washington  county,  108. 

Wilson,  Thomas  J. — quoted,  78  (note). 


